ohmidog!

The starving stray dog rescuers initially dubbed Java, because of the coffee can around her neck, has been renamed Olivia, and she’s recovering from her surgery Monday.

Authorities estimate she spent a month with the can encasing her neck and cutting into her ears. She apparently gave birth to a litter during that time, though it’s not likely any pups survived, based on the emaciated condition Olivia was found in.

But she’s been making steady improvement since having surgery Monday. “She’s really doing remarkably well,” a board member with Animal Allies of Texas told the Dallas Morning News.

According to Animal Allies, Dallas Animal Control is not investigating whether the dog was abused because there is no evidence the can was intentionally placed on her head.

Olivia — believed to be a one-to-two-year-old shepherd mix – was found by a citizen  Sunday near Dowdy Ferry Road and Interstate 20, said to be a common dog dumping ground.

Vets expect Olivia, who still needs to be treated for heartworm and spayed, to spend another week at Metro Paws Animal Hospital. After that, she will be fostered by one of the veterinary technicians.

It could be up to four months before she is put up for adoption.

Contributions to Olivia’s care can be made through the Animal Allies website or by calling Metro Paws at 214-887-1400.

(Photos: Animal Allies)

A starving dog with a coffee can around her neck was dropped off Sunday at Dallas Animal Services, along with a second dog who appeared to be looking after her.

Both dogs were brought to the shelter by a citizen who who didn’t wish to be identified. He said he found the two dogs.

Officials at the shelter say the emaciated dog, named Java by its rescuers, has had the can around her neck for some time. It  had cut into her ears, nearly severing one. The can was removed and Java was transferred to Metro Paws Animal Hospital for treatment.

The shelter posted on its Facebook page that “the next few days are critical. We have to get her stable enough for surgery and watch out for organ failure due to her starved condition. But that tail is wagging.”

Donations for her treatment are being accepted by Metro Paws or through the Animal Allies of Texas.

The second dog, who was dubbed Joshua, is healthy and up for adoption.

“He was shy and frightened at all that was going on,” the Facebook post says, “but he was determined to be a reassuring presence for the girl.”

(Photo: Dallas Animal Services)

A year and a half after a starved pit bull was found at the bottom of a trash chute at a Newark high rise apartment — looking more like a corpse than a pet — the dog who would go on to be named Patrick is doing great.

Progressing far less quickly are court case against his former owner, and a proposed bill, named after Patrick, that would bring stiffer penalties against those who abuse and neglect animals.

Patrick’s Law would increase penalties against those who abuse and neglect animals. Last week,  it cleared the New Jersey Senate Economic Growth Committee, but it still requires approval by another committee and both houses of the legislature.

The bill (S1303) would make certain acts of neglect and abuse fourth-degree offenses and increases the civil penalties — up to $3,000 for a first offense and $5,000 for a second offense, according to NJ.com. If an animal dies, offenders could be charge with a third-degree crime, which carries stricter penalties.

Sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr., it would also increase the penalties for dogfighting; failing to provide an animal with proper food, water and shelter; and leaving animals unattended in hot cars.

Patrick was found in March 2011 in a garbage chute at Garden Spires.

His former owner, Newark resident Kisha Curtis, was charged with animal cruelty and remains free on $10,000 bond. Curtis has entered a plea of not guilty and has rejected a plea deal under which she would serve 18 months in prison, pay a $5,000 fine and serve 30 days of community service.

Instead, she wants to enter a pretrial intervention program,which would involve no jail time and, once completed, leave her without a record.

That’s now under consideration by Newark Superior Court Judge Joseph Cassini III, who agreed last month to review documents from the Department of Children and Family Services regarding Curtis and her childhood.

Curtis admits to abandoning Patrick, but says she “never harmed” the dog and that she had only had him for a few days. She is not accused of throwing the dog down the chute, only of neglecting and abandoning him.

Patrick, meanwhile — after months of veterinary care and intensive rehabilitation at Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls, N.J.–  is happy and healthy.

Who will eventually be awarded custody of him is still at issue, but it definitely won’t be Kisha Curtis.

(Photo: Tony Kurdzuk / The Newark Star-Ledger)

Found inside a trash bag that was hurled out of a car — with BB’s under his skin and his eyeballs apparently gouged out – a miniature pinscher even some veterinarians thought would be better off dead has surprised everyone.

And touched them, too, it seems — enough to spark $17,000 in donations.

A story about Andre — a tiny dog who now bears the name of a giant — appeared in the Arizona Republic Sunday, and started out this way:

To get through the beginning, you need to know how it ends.

Happily.

The beginning was Jan. 3, when Cedric Conwright, while on his afternoon walk in Tolleson, saw a car pull to the side of the road, and something thrown from its window just before it drove away.

Conwright approached the black trash bag that had been tossed in a field. It was knotted at the top, and it was moving. When he nudged it with his foot, he heard a whimper.

Inside, he found a small dog in bad shape. He picked him up and took him home, and was surprised to see it could stand and drink.

Two days later, Conwright took the dog to Maricopa County Animal Care and Control in hopes of getting it medical help. They gave some thought to euthanizing the dog, estimated to be about four years old, but instead performed surgery, removing what was left of his eyes.

After two weeks, animal control started seeking a rescue group willling to take him in as a foster.

Among those responding was the Feathers Foundation, a Paradise Valley non-profit group associated with the Circle L Animal Sanctuary. The foundation raises money for the care of injured and neglected animals.

When Susy Hopkins, a Feathers Foundation member picked him up, he was thin as a rail and had green fluid leaking from his eyes sockets and down his face.

She stopped at McDowell Mountain Animal Hospital in Scottsdale, where a vet gave Andre — the name she’d given him — an examination. The vet recommended euthanasia.

Hopkins said no, and asked the vet’s office to do what they could. In addition to infected eyes, Andre was anemic and had diabetes, and under his skin were what appeared to be BB’s from a pellet gun.

Over the next few days, Andre started appearing more lively, and his rescuers went to work trying to raise money for the medical care he had gotten and would need.

Deborah Wilson, a Scottsdale gynecologist who runs the Circle L Sanctuary, set up a page for Andre on FirstGiving.com, a website where non-profits can seek donations for their causes.

While she’s posted several pleas over the years, she says she’s never seen the kind of outpouring of support there was for Andre — about $13,000.

Rescuers also set up a fundraiser at a downtown Scottsdale pizza restaurant; more than 250 people showed up and about $3,500 was raised. Feathers Foundation has announced that any excess funds will go to other animals in need.

There’s something about Andre that brings out the best in people, said Hopkins.

“People just wanted to see Andre, to hold him, to hug him,” she said. “And no matter how many people wanted to pet him, Andre never resisted. He was so calm, so gentle. It made me wonder even more why someone would treat him so badly.”

On Feb. 11, a home was found for Andre. Sandy Powers saw his story on TV. “It was love at first sight,” Powers said. “I had never adopted a rescue dog before, but I knew I wanted to care for this one.”

Andre has joined Powers’ other dog, K-Bela, a 90-pound Rottweiler mix she inherited from her brother-in-law.

Being without sight, he treads carefully, and follows voices, and once he finds a human, he’ll lean against them. “When I talk or sing a little, he stays right with me on my heels,” said Powers.

While he’s back on antibiotics for his eye infection, and getting continued treatment for diabetes, Powers hopes he will be well enough for a picnic arranged for his fans. (More information about that can be found on his Facebook page.)

As the Republic reported, the small dog’s impact has been huge.

Andre is still tiny, weighing about 9 pounds. An underdog, to be sure. But one person gave him a chance, and then another, and then another. Word got around, and soon hundreds of people were donating thousands of dollars. And instead of being a dog that cost $5,000 to save, he became a dog that raised $12,000 extra for injured and abused animals down the line.

“It’s amazing how a tiny little spirit can touch so many hearts,” Powers said.

 (Photo: Pat Shannahan / the Arizona Republic)

This clip from the documentary “100,000” provides a glimpse into the life of street dogs in Puerto Rico who — sometimes sick, sometimes starving, nearly always unwanted — have become part of the urban landscape.

Like those who call Los Machos Beach home, these dogs in Guayama survive mostly by scavenging, and sometimes with a little help from humans, like Anibal.

Anibal Rosario, though he seems to have little himself — living in an abadoned home, with abandoned dogs, after being abandoned himself, he says, by his own parents — does what he can to see that the dogs get food and stay out of trouble.

He doesn”t view the spurned, mistreated and abused dogs as his own, just as a group that he ”manages.”

“People hit them also,” he says. “They throw rocks and bottles at them so the dogs get aggressive,” he says.

While some of his neighbors are critical of him, others see him as filling a need and taking responsibility for what  noone else seems willing to.

“Anibal is someone that you really have to admire,” one neighbor says. “Believe me, he will look for at least a piece of meat for each one of them.”

(Our coverage of the documentary “100,000,” a probing look at dog overpopulation in Puerto Rico, continues tomorrow)

Despite an outpouring of support from the public, time is running out for four dogs found starving and tied to a tree in Columbia, Tennessee last month.

The four, described as “American Shepherd-Bulldogs,” were all set to go to a rescue organization, but on Christmas Eve the plan fell through, News Channel 5 reports.

Now, unless another rescue can be found, the dogs are facing the end of the road — an outcome they weren’t far from when they were found.

“I was physically ill when I saw their intake pictures,” said Sonja Rine with Pet Pals of Maury County Organization.

“They were vomiting rocks and twigs because that is all they had eaten and they were all attached to one tree,” said Councilwoman Debbie Matthews, who is also trying to help them find a home.

An animal control officer spotted the dogs tied to a tree in their owner’s backyard last November. The owner told the officer the dogs hadn’t been fed in “a couple of days.” A judge ordered the owner to give the dogs up and donate $100 worth of dog food to the shelter.

He has yet to do so, but others in Columbia have stepped forward with donations.

“What a little love can do, it’s an amazing thing,” said Matthews.

The dogs are about a year old. They’ve tested heartworm positive, and have some other medical issues, so they need to go to a rescue before they can be adopted individually.

“They have tried so hard, they have such a will to live, they forgive. They don’t hold a grudge,” said Rine. “It’s gonna happen, it’s just gonna happen they deserve it,” said Rine.

Animal control officials in New Bedford, Mass., are seeking the public’s help in finding the owners of  two pit bull-type dogs left in a vacant apartment — one of which, apparently starving, jumped out of a third-story window.

The emaciated 1-year-old female jumped from the window on Sept. 30, breaking her hip and hind leg, according to South Coast Today. She’s now being treated at Cape Cod Veterinary Specialties.

The second dog, a four-month-old puppy (pictured above), was found inside the apartment. The two were believed to have been abandoned two months ago when the tenants moved out.

The Animal Rescue League of Boston is asking for the public’s help to offset the costs associated with the dogs’ care and rehabilitation. Those interested in making a donation can call (617) 426-9170, Ext. 615, or visit www.arlboston.org/donate.

Anyone with information about the dogs or their owners is asked to contact New Bedford Animal Control Officer Emmanuel Maciel at (508) 991- 6366. 

“This constitutes felony cruelty against an innocent animal,” says Lt. Alan Borgal, director of the Center for Animal Protection at the Animal Rescue League of Boston. “We are counting on the public to step forward with information to help bring the person or persons responsible to justice.”

Posted by jwoestendiek September 13th, 2011 under Muttsblog, videos.
Tags: abandoned, animal cruelty, animals, bones, chamberlin, chamberlin's law, dog, dogs, don vaughan, felony, fused, guilford county, guilford county animal shelter, misdemeanor, neglect, nellie brock, north carolina, pets, recovery, senator, starving, susie's law, tethered, tied, wilbert morrison

Comments: 27

Jelly Belly, a starved dog in need of rescue

Posted by jwoestendiek August 27th, 2010 under Muttsblog.
Tags: abandoned, abuse, animals, baltimore animal rescue & care shelter, barcs, dog, dogs, emaciated, jelly belly, neglect, ohmidog!, pets, rescue, shelter, starvation, starved, starving, urgent

Comments: none

SPCA supervisor in Texas convicted of cruelty

Posted by jwoestendiek October 28th, 2009 under Muttsblog.
Tags: alicia marie martin, alicia martin, christmas, collin county jail, convicted, cruelty, dog, economy, felony, german shepherd, gift, Mckinney, pet, plano, probation, sentenced, spca, starved, starving, supervisor, texas

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