Later in the day one of our Animal Control Officers (ACO) informed me that he had brought in a hideous Yorkshire Terrier into the Shelter. The ACO explained to me that he knew who the owner was but he wanted to let us know that the dog was in really bad shape. He explained the whole situation to me.
He explained that the Yorkie was caught running loose in the middle of the road when he picked it up. When the ACO asked the neighbors, they identified who the owner of the Yorkie is. The ACO left a door knocker on the owners front door letting him know that we had his dog. When the ACO was impounding the dog he noticed that the owner had several "Check Conditions" complaints on him about this Yorkie named Teddy. Some of the neighbors had complained to Animal Control that they saw Teddy tied out in the back yard and he wasn't being cared for. In our County it is illegal to use tie outs on dogs. Teddy was just adopted from the Humane Society five years ago to this owner.
When the ACO grabbed the Yorkie up from the middle of the road he couldn't help but notice that he was missing his lower jaw completely. He was severely emaciated probably due to the fact he couldn't eat anymore. Teddy had no teeth in his mouth and his age couldn't be determined at this point. His skin was literally crawling with fleas. Teddy barley resembled a Yorkie anymore. Most of his hair was missing. He only had fur around his nose and the fur he had left on his head appeared to be slicked back with grease. His little feet and legs were naked showing his black colored skin. The ACO identified that he had skin issues.
The ACO and I walked together to the kennel as he continued to explain the situation. By this time I wanted to get a better look at this dog myself. My first thought when I saw him was that he was very pitiful. My heart broke for him. He was a total wreck, one pathetic mess of a dog. And there he stood on a little blanket that the Officer put down for him. He was in front of the food bowl trying hard to eat the can of food despite his severe disability.
Teddy was working as hard as he could trying to lap up every little bit of the gravy he possibly could with his loose tongue. You could see the loose skin that was once covering his bottom jaw at one time. It was hanging out of place, below where his mouth should be. This made him look alien. His tongue was just hanging in middle of space; it had nowhere to go. Teddy smelled of Adams flea spray, a strong odor of perfume that hit me like a ton of bricks and gave me a instant headache. You could visually see millions of fleas running around his naked skin. He resembled more like a Chinese Hairless Crested dog than a Yorkie.
Teddy didn't appear to be in any pain at all at the moment so all we could do at the Shelter is hold him for 5 working days for the owner to claim him. Unfortunately, all we could do is wait for the owner to come in, if they dare. The ACO put in a note in the system that if the owner came in to claim him they need to be issued citations for manner of keeping and treating. There is absolutely no reason to let a animal get in this condition. There is no excuse. This is animal cruelty.
15 minutes before we closed the owner came in. He didn't come in to redeem Teddy, instead he came in to sign him over to us to avoid getting citations for manner of keeping and treating. Personally I wish we were able to give him the citations regardless but I don't make the rules. Once we had the dog signed over we made the decision to go ahead and put Teddy down. There was no reason to keep Teddy suffering any longer. He wasn't able to eat anymore with ease and he was slowly starving to death. Putting food in front of him that he wasn't able to eat was like teasing him.
Once Teddy was gone, I examined his lifeless little body closely. What I found shocks me. Teddy was missing most of his hair and we initially thought it was due to his bad skin because he was kept in poor conditions. But upon closer examination, some of the fur on his back was stuck to his skin in what looked like charcoal balls of burnt fur. It hit me, Teddy had been burnt. Teddy had been set on fire. Our minds wondered further what other abuse Teddy had suffered to loose his lower jaw. The pain that he must have endured, I can only imagine.
Only five years ago the Humane Society thought they saved another dog from a Shelter to go into a loving home. Unfortunately, this wasn't a happy ending for Teddy. His adoption turned out to be hell for him. The three of us there started at his abused lifeless little body and we cried for him.
It's been three days since this happened and I haven't even been able to talk about Teddy with anyone. This blog is my release because it's too painful for me to talk about. Every time I think about Teddy I feel the heat rising and the tears well up. RIP Teddy. May God show you love better than man has.
~Author, Jenni (me)
It's been three days since this happened and I haven't even been able to talk about Teddy with anyone. This blog is my release because it's too painful for me to talk about. Every time I think about Teddy I feel the heat rising and the tears well up. RIP Teddy. May God show you love better than man has.
~Author, Jenni (me)
STOP THE ANIMAL ABUSE!
This is not a actual picture of Teddy, but is what he should have been
This is not a actual picture of Teddy, but is what he should have been
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