Heartbreaking Video Shows Starving Dog Being Abandoned at Shelter

The following is from a press release issued by Wood Green Animal Shelters, in Great Britain. If you want to have a good morning, don’t read on. If you want to see what it looks like when a scared, emaciated dog is abandoned, keep going. But be forewarned: This will break your heart. I’ve put the video at the bottom of this post so you have time to change your mind or to get a hanky. What’s most heartbreaking is that this is no isolated incident. Most people who abandon their pets like this don’t do so near shelters.

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Shocking CCTV images which show a dog being dumped at Wood Green Animal Shelters has been released by the Charity in a bid to highlight the increasing number of animals being abandoned.

Honey, a four-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross was taken to the London Shelter in Lordship Lane by her former owner, tied up to a drain pipe and abandoned. Distressing CCTV footage shows the man walk through the gate to the Shelter; tie the dog up before walking away, briefly glancing back at the dog.

Honey is then seen attempting to follow the man and spinning and pulling trying to get away, until a member of staff arriving for work discovers her and takes her inside. When Shelter staff untied her they were shocked to discover Honey emaciated, shivering and terrified.

Honey, as named by staff at the Shelter, was taken inside and assessed. At just 10kgs she was almost half her ideal weight and had extremely painful sores on her back legs, suggesting she was kept outside.
Honey was transferred to the Godmanchester Shelter where she was given a warm kennel and some comfy blankets to lay on. She has been put on a special diet which will see her consume four to five meals a day to help her reach an ideal weight of approximately 17kgs.

Manager of the London Shelter, Katie Wickins said: “It is disappointing that this individual not only dumped this dog on our doorstep without providing us with a full history which proves invaluable to the Charity when it comes to assessing the dog for rehoming, but more importantly, that this dog was allowed to get in such an horrific state.

“Honey’s extreme weight loss and pressure sores have not developed over night. It is unacceptable for anyone to allow their pet to suffer in this way.

“Honey is a very sweet but also very nervous dog and was clearly very distressed by being left outside. When the man who tied her up left, Honey tried to follow him, when she realised she couldn’t go anywhere she became very distressed and was pulling and spinning trying to get away.”

In January the Charity took in 354 animals.

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Shelter twice refused to help sled dogs

The Canadian press is reporting that the man who killed around 100 sled dogs in what’s being called a “slaughter” and a “massacre” twice reached out to the British Columbia SPCA for help with the dogs, and was turned down both times.

From the Vanouver Sun:

The Vancouver Sun has learned the 38-year-old employee of Outdoor Adventures who killed 100 sled dogs in Whistler approached the BC SPCA on two separate occasions asking for its help in finding adoptive homes for some of the company’s dogs.

Both times he was rebuffed.

Officials at the animal protection agency said they didn’t realize the dogs would be brutally slaughtered. But they said they told the man the dogs would not make good pets and were not adoptable.

How did the folks at the British Columbia SPCA make this determination? Senior animal protection officer Eileen Drever had this to say, quoted in Canada’s National Post:

“(The employee) didn’t advise me he was going to kill any dogs. He was looking to find homes. I spoke to an animal behaviourist who is also a vet and she spoke with an expert in the (United) States who said they weren’t adoptable,” said Ms. Drever.

And it gets even worse. The Sun reports that after the killings, Fawcett contacted the SPCA again, writing:

“I understood from Joey (the owner of the sled dog tour company) that there were to be some dogs going to you for adoption? Is that indeed happening? Or should I just show up with a truck full so they can get off the chain and get some attention, exercise, stop fighting, etc….I am happy to bring some down to stop cruelty they are going through here.

“This is me as a bystander (I am off due to injury to both arms). I am the only one who has made any effort to move dogs. We still have almost 60 dogs too many, and a new litter of pups to be given away. Can you please give me a call so I know something can be done. It’s breaking my heart.”

Five days later, Drever replied to him, saying, “I just informed Joey that after consulting with an animal behaviourist/veterinarian we have reached the decision these dogs are not adoptable. I will however conduct an inspection of the facility.”

The Sun states she did not investigate the facility at that time.

The SPCA’s response? Again, from the same Sun article:

BC SPCA head of animal cruelty Marcie Moriarty said the SPCA would have acted had it known the dogs were going to be slaughtered.

But she added it’s not the SPCA’s responsibility “to take on their issues … to suddenly make a phone call and say, ‘I have 100 dogs that need placing;’ that’s not an answer to their business operation’s issues,” said Moriarty.

“If we had any indication they would have been executed we absolutely would have done something.” But she added it’s likely they would have still been euthanized.

Why might that be? Because apparently, like pit bulls, sled dogs aren’t individuals who deserve and should receive individual evaluation. Moriarty continued:

“What people have to realize because of the way they’re raised they’re not highly adoptable animals. Maybe a few could have been adopted but these dogs are on tethers 90 per cent of their lives. Is it fair [Outdoor Adventures] profits — get thousands of dollars from tourists and not have a retirement plan? Is it fair they would dump them on the SPCA and then we’d have the pain of that euthanization?”

It was crap in Wilkes County, N.C., when 145 dogs “rescued” from a fighting ring were killed by animal control authorities without evaluation — even nursing puppies. It was crap when it was said about the Vick dogs. And it’s crap here.

Moriarty did refute one element of the Sun‘s account, saying that Fawcett didn’t reach out to them until after the killings, about other dogs. But whether he contacted them before or after the initial slaughter doesn’t change the story all that much. They were asked to help these dogs, either the 100 who were killed, or the others. They didn’t.

How’s that for “prevention of cruelty to animals”?

Photo: A dog from the sled dog company that owned the dogs who were killed and employed Fawcett. Photo by Claudia Kwan/Vancouver Sun.

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Kidnapped Shelter Dog Marries Life-Long Companion

Edith and Archie, married after 12 years together, seek new home together (Photo: NY Daily News)

Two 12-year-old dogs who have been together since puppyhood recently tied the knot at the BARC shelter in Brooklyn, NY, where they’ve been residing since their owner went to live in a nursing home several months ago.

Archie, a poodle-shih tzu mix, and Edith, Chihuahua-papillon, may never have tied the knot. But when a dognapper made off with Edith, and shelter workers saw how despondent Archie was, they realized that these two were doggy soulmates.

“He didn’t eat. He didn’t sleep. He couldn’t play or rest,” shelter director Vinny Spinola told the NY Daily News. “It was terrible to see him in that state.”

Some good detective work brought Edith back to Archie’s loving arms. The reunion? Nothing less that joyous, according to Spinola.  “They ate a whole bowl of food and then jumped all over each other,” he said.

It was then that shelter staff decided the two needed to formalize their relationship. The civil ceremony was held last weekend at the shelter, and officiated by a real minister. The Daily News describes the scene thus:

“Shelter workers were giddy as the tiny bride waddled down the aisle in a white taffeta gown and long lace veil. The freshly coiffed groom, sporting tails and a top hat, wagged his moppy tail as he walked alongside her.”

The newlyweds are looking for a new forever home, where they can spend their honeymoon and the rest of their little lives. Spinosa says they must be adopted together. Interested in helping Archie and Edith live happily ever after? Go to www.barkshelter.org.

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A shelter dog’s story: Before the happy ending

Are you getting sick of hearing me talk about my Gracie yet?

Today, the great folks at Second Chance Animal Adoption in Bonners Ferry sent me some more information on Gracie’s life before we adopted her on Christmas Day. And while I worry and care about all pets in sub-standard shelters and pounds, knowing that my own dog suffered in a particularly terrible one is hard to think about.

But I think it’s important, so this is Gracie’s story.

She was found by a sheriff’s deputy near a trailer park when she was a puppy. She came into the city pound during a time when it was being investigated for neglect of the animals, while volunteers from SCAA were working hard to help the pets in the old pound and get a new shelter built.

The old pound was a small concrete building with seven kennels, and inside/outside “runs” that were only 3 feet by 4 feet in size. The building was old, with inadequate ventilation and no drainage. It was too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.

Eventually someone new was hired to care for the animals, and SCAA volunteers were able to make many improvements over the years, but it was still known locally as a “hell hole.”

All that finally changed when SCAA opened a brand new shelter for our community’s animals last July, and brought all the animals, including Gracie, over there. This is how Kate Turner from SCAA described that day:

When Gracie moved to the shelter (she rode on the float in the parade from the pound to the shelter) and crawled into her Kuranda bed, I cried. It was the first time in her life she didn’t have to lay on filthy concrete ( in her own waste). She laid on that soft bed constantly unless Kim or Dawn was walking her or putting her in an outside pen for fresh air.

I look at my beloved Gracie now, and see her lounging on her special orthopedic beds and wrestling with best friend Shakira, our Golden Retriever, and like Kate, I find myself crying.

Friends, I’ll be honest with you: This dog is such a special gift to me. I love all my pets, but with her it’s, like the coach used to say on Mad TV, “a whole ‘nother level!”

My gratitude to the people who do the hard work for the animals in our community, and all over the country, is endless. And I’ve never been so glad of anything in my life as to know that Teresa and I helped get the new shelter built through our donations and sponsorships, and continue to sponsor adoption and other programs there, too. Talk about a warm feeling!

If you have a pound like this in your area, lend a hand, or donate some money, to the animals there. They need you.

Excuse me, I have to go see if Gracie needs anything!

Photo: One of the runs at the old city pound, before Second Chance Animal Adoption volunteers were allowed to step in, and a new animal care employee hired. There are much worse photos, but I thought this one was bad enough.

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Dr. Becker kicks off a year of helping shelter pets

Shelter pets want nothing more than to move from a cage to a couch. One of the ways to help them do that is to cut down on the number of pets who find themselves in the shelter in the first place. And I’d like your help to make that happen.

As a practicing veterinarian, I’m all too familiar with the hard choices pet owners are having to make in these tough economic times. Facing a veterinary bill you can’t pay is painful, and your pet’s veterinarian feels that pain, too.

Fortunately, the American Animal Hospital Association created the AAHA Helping Pets Fund to assist veterinarians with the expenses of pets whose owners can’t afford them, as well as for pets who are abandoned at their clinics.

At the recent North American Veterinary Conference, I stopped by the AAHA booth to record this video about how I’m planning on help the Fund help pets:
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That’s all you have to do: Visit my Facebook page, and if you haven’t already done it, click “Like,” and I’ll donate $1, up to $1,000 total, for everyone who clicks.

If you’ve already “liked” my page, be sure to ask your animal-loving friends and family to do the same!

I’ll be continuing to raise funds and awareness for animals in need, particularly those in shelters, all year. I’ll also be helping pet owners find new, better and more cost-effective ways to keep their pets healthy and happy.

To follow the campaign, be sure to sign up for my free newsletter!

Let’s all join together, pet owners and veterinarians alike, and help the AAHA Helping Pets Fund keep pets out of shelters!

Photo: My beloved mixed breed shelter dog, Gracie.

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Buy these collars - Help rebuild a shelter!

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Former Shelter Dog Shines On Broadway

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

Fred the dog, former shelter dog and most recently the star of the hit musical “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” now enjoys the posh life of a pampered Manhattan pooch. Found wandering the streets of New York, this amazing pooch was discovered at an ASPCA shelter by Bill Berloni, a theatrical animal agent. Read more about this wags to riches story here.

posted 2010 Mar 02 by Leslie Hayes

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