The Worst Animal Abuse Case I've Ever Seen

I don't know how I made it through Thanksgiving week at the EC but I did. What a rough 5 days THAT was!

All I can say is I won't stand for animal abuse of any kind. I won't eat their meat and I especially won't stand for deliberate acts of cruelty on animals no matter what species they are. Yesterday pretty much did me in. Just when you think you've seen a lot.......An ACO (Animal Control Officer) rushed into the tx area and demanded help. She could see were were balls to the wall busy but there was something in her tone that demanded attention. Laura rushed out and much to all of our surprise, she and the ACO carried in a Standard Poodle in a garbage bag on a stretcher. Someone had dumped this animal at TLAC sometime in between the ACO's rounds on the street and at the shelter.

Here in Austin, you can drop your dog off (dead, alive or barely alive) anytime day or night. At night, there isn't anyone there so apparently the animals get passed through a one-way door. The ACO on duty swings by through the night to make sure that there aren't any hurt or critical animals and if there are, they bring them to us for treatment or euthanasia depending on how serious they are. All parvo virus cases are euthanized. They never even get a chance. Anyways, the ACO was driving up to the TLAC building to check on the animals and she saw a big black garbage bag. She told us the thought someone just didn't know where to put their deceased animal and left it there. As she went to move it to the correct place, she said the bag moved and made noises. That's when she noticed someone had dumped a half-dead, very sick poodle at the shelter.

To see this was just mind blowing. Honestly, I burst into tears as they pulled the bag off this animal. He/She was covered in large gaping wounds and bruises. We tried to stabilize and give pain meds prior to assessing but it turns out the dog had a broken neck. So there you have it, some asshole took this dog, put it in a bag with very serious injuries and left it to die. I'm not sure what the intention was exactly or how this dog became injured but our guess is a hit by car (HBC) or attack by dog (ABD). Regardless of the person's intentions, their decision for this animal makes them a cold blooded killer in my eyes. How could you put a LIVE animal in a plastic bag with those injuries and leave it on a Sunday night to suffer? Ugh.