It started out with my neighbor coming home from church and running over a kitten with her car (a stray). I cleaned it up for her and disposed of the dead body at the shelter. They have a disposal place I can use even when they are closed.
Before that I was happy to have been able to find homes for 2 of the dogs I have up on petfinder for the shelter, so I thought the Sunday started out pretty good.
But after the cat incident, my neighbor comes over and tells me that another neighbor's puppies are dead, or at least some of them, the others were in the process of dying. I went over there, and sure enough, dead dogs everywhere.
The owners had moved away and left the dogs to random juveniles that appeared to live there off an on. We had fed the 8 puppies (3 months old) plus mom, who's a pitbull. That's why we never called Animal Control on them, because we knew that pitbulls will be euthanized at the shelter, no matter what. It's their policy.
So we kept feeding the dogs and deworming them and thought they were healthy looking fat pups. 3 days ago one was dead and we thought the mother had killed it, because they are weaned now and won't leave her alone and she had no place to get away.
So the teenager that lived there put the mom, into another pen finally and this morning, the pups started to drop dead one after the other, foaming at the mouth.
So I called the cops. I knew Animal Control wasn't on today, but this had to be addressed ASAP. 4 puppies barely alive and suffering, the others were already bloating and crawling with ants and maggots. The one that had died 2 days prior was half dug up and about to explode.
So you can imagine that smell.
Anyways, so I called the cops and the dispatcher refused to even talk to a cop, just told me she can leave Animal Control a note, he'll be back on Wednesday. My jaw dropped!
I asked her again to make sure I understood correctly "you want me to leave these dead dogs in the heat and watch the other remaining dogs suffer and die, until Wednesday? 2 more days?".
She said "Yes, but I can leave the ACO a note." Just kept repeating that. Outrageous!!!
Not only are TWO city ordinances violated here, (you find them at the end of this post) but I believe that animal cruelty is a crime in itself. Well, wrong address!!! I don't give up when there are animals suffering, that is not an option.
I hung up, alarmed my neighbors and they called too. Of course then she couldn't ignore it anymore and finally contacted a Sergeant about it.
He came out and talked to us and was horrified when we saw that yard.
I took pictures. They are graphic:
The cop was very nice and tried to figure out what to do. He tried to reach our ACO without luck. I offered my help, since I am vaccinated against rabies and know how to handle this, so he ended up talking to a Vet to make sure we are not dealing with rabies (which we didn't, it's Parvo I'm sure), and then, under his supervision and authority, I cleaned up the carcasses and took them to the disposal at the shelter.
That still leaves 4 puppies and the mother, who has the onset of mange on top of everything. As soon as the next puppy dies, we are asked to freeze it if we can (my neighbor can) and take it the shelter in the morning to have a piece of the brain sent in for rabies testing, just in case.
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Monday Update
3 more pups died over night, one was barely alive this morning. We took them all to the shelter and they are pretty certain that it's not parvo but hookworms! I de-wormed them 2 weeks ago..I saw roundworms crawling out of them after they died too. So much for the over the counter de-wormers.
Mom is still there, with the onset of mange. I'm waiting for her to get out of the yard, so I can capture and take her to the shelter. Seizing her from a private property is so complicated, but she got out every day so far..so I'm waiting.
Here are the City Ordinances that were violated, if not even Texas State Law:
§ 90.20 GENERAL CARE.
No owner will fail to provide an animal in his/her care with sufficient good and wholesome food or water, adequate shelter and protection from weather, veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering and humane care and treatment. Shelter shall be of sufficient size to allow each animal to stand up, lie down and turn around in a natural position and must have three sides, a roof and a floor.
(`75 Code, § 3-21) (Ord. 1997-8, passed 7-1-98; Am. Ord. 1998-24, passed 11-17-9 Penalty, see § 10.99
§ 90.22 ABANDONMENT.
In this section, "abandon" means to leave an animal in any place without providing reasonable and necessary care for the animal, under circumstances under which no reasonable, similarly situated person would leave an animal. Reasonable and necessary care means shelter, food, and water.
A person commits an offense if, having custody, care, or control of an animal, he intentionally abandons the animal in any place under circumstances that expose the animal to an unreasonable risk of harm.
An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
Wednesday Update
NO JUSTICE FOR DEAD PUPPIES
This morning I was told that Animal Control nor the Police is doing anything about the dead puppies or about the still suffering mother dog. Animal Cruelty does not seem to be a crime worth bothering with here. They didn't even go out to have a look. I regret that I went through this horror cleaning up the bodies and doing their job for not even so much as a thank you.
But I had to pay a 155 Dollar fine last year because I had an orphaned squirrel baby I was try to help without a permit AND was barred for a year from obtaining my wildlife permit. What is wrong without laws??????
This is not over yet!
