Puppy Nearly Frozen-Abuser Failed to Appear in Court!

A Indiana woman faces animal cruelty charges after she abandoned a 16-month-old puppy recently.

A group of Myrtle Beach Firefighters from Station One found the Terrier mix outside of a house on Warren Street on the morning of January 16th.

Animal Control officers tell News 13 the puppy was found shivering in below freezing temperatures with no water, food or shelter.

City police spoke with the homeowner who told them that the puppy's owner, who is just a visitor, does not care to bring the animal inside because there was an infant in the house. Police, who did not release the name of the pet owner, contacted the woman and charged her with animal cruelty.

A court date was scheduled for Wednesday morning but the owner failed to appear.

Police are now looking for the woman who must now pay $469.00 or serve 20 days in jail.

Responding animal control officer, Steve Trott tells News 13 that abandoning an innocent animal is unfortunate in itself but what makes the situation even worse, is when pet owners don't realize the consequences they later have to face.

"If you mistreat your animal you've committed a crime to the animal so you're either going to be charged with some kind of an offense and possibly go to jail," explained Trott. "Your animal is going to be confiscated and taken away so that she can probably get a better home."

The puppy was turned over to the Grand Strand Humane Society where its employees say cases like this are happening way too often and cannot understand why pet owners who cannot take responsibility find another way to care for their animals.

"If you're going to abuse an animal leave an animal chained outside, someone is going to see that and someone is going to call animal control and you are going to be in trouble for it," said Cara Gibbs, Marketing and Public Relations manager at the adoption shelter. "It's against the law, animal cruelty is against the law and as long we're here as long as animal control is here, we're going to do everything to stop it."


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Dog Frozen to Sidewalk-woman goes to court 12.22.08

A 59 year old woman (her name is not being disclosed for some reason) is charged with a misdemeanor of animal neglect. Her court date is Monday, December 22.  Click here for more information on this case. 

An elderly border collie mix froze to the sidewalk when it was left outside overnight in single-digit temperatures, but the "morbidly obese" dog survived due to insulation from layers of fat, according to the Sheboygan County Humane Society.

The dog, a male named Jiffy, was discovered and its owner arrested on suspicion of animal neglect this morning, said Lt. Tim Eirich of the Sheboygan Police Department. The owner, a 59-year-old woman, lives in the 1500 block of John Court.

The dog is being cared for at the Humane Society and is expected to survive, but it is not clear what long-term effects the overnight freeze may have had, shelter manager Carey Payne said.

"The dog is comfortable right now and is being evaluated for possible damage. We won't know for a few days what the extent is," Payne said. "He was frozen to the sidewalk, so myself and two other employees had to pour some warm water over the dog's back end to get him off the sidewalk."

Payne said the dog can barely move, but shelter workers aren't sure if that's from the incident or the dog's excessive weight. Jiffy is 11 or 12 years old, Eirich said.

The owner told police she tried to get the dog inside but was unable to, and instead checked on the dog every few hours, Eirich said. The temperature dipped to 6 degrees overnight, according to the National Weather Service.

Payne said few dogs could survive a night outdoors at that temperature.

"Being insulated as well as he was with the layers of fat he had probably saved the dog's life," she said.

The woman was trying to drag the dog inside when police arrived about 9:15 a.m., Eirich said. Officers responded after a neighbor noticed the dog and called police.

The case has been referred to the Sheboygan County district attorney's office for possible charges. Police are asking for a charge of misdemeanor animal neglect.

Consumed by thoughts of cats

I am becoming increasingly consumed by the thought of cats and chained dogs outside in the cold. I live in Kansas City and it is starting to freeze at night. During the day, I am able to push the thoughts of shivering kitties from my mind. As the clock ticks by and evening comes, I become anxious that I can't save all of them.

I already do a lot for cats the that are near me. I live in a third floor apartment. Each night I go downstairs and feed some strays and ferals that I only see evidence of. Usually, there are people getting home or going out for the night and I feel nervous. I don't want them to see what I am doing. If they see and disagree with it, they might tell the landlord. I already know that the landlord doesn't care for cats too much. The maintenance man has thrown away numerous makeshift feeding stations and styrofoam houses. People think that feeding cats somehow attracts wild animals or something. The cats eat all the food-there is nothing left. I do get them first thing in the morning, but I guess the risk of wild animals getting the food goes down once the sun is up.  I probably should go back down after an hour or so to get the bowls, but I am already doing my inside cat work at that point.  I have 3 cats of my own and 6 fosters. It takes a lot of energy to feed all of them and change their 10 litter boxes-twice a day.  I have 4 kittens of various ages with the youngest being 4 months. I have a feral kitten I am working with daily and it requires lots of patience. 

Outside, there is only one cat that actually comes up to me only occasionally, but I see numerous glowing eyes hidden among the brush and under cars and quick movements from between trees. The one cat that comes up to me isn't too thin, I think it's a girl, she is some kind of Siamese cat. She has a bob tail, too. I am not sure what happened there...hopefully it is a characteristic of her breed.

Two nights ago, it was raining. When she came up to me her fur was wet and she was shivering. I felt deeply saddened that I had to leave her outside. I am trying to lure her up to my little house I made for them. I have to keep it by my door, which is on the (inconvenient) third floor. Although I do have one feral cat who comes up for food every night.

I wish I did not have to deal with this problem. It would be so much easier on me-and my pocketbook-if I just ignored them all. I wish that people would be responsible and take care of the animals they have so that they are not having babies and not running around outside. It isn't safe for them. I just can't know they are out there and not do something to help them.

I can tell that it is weighing on my mind, I feel the stress in my body.  I can feel my anger building inside when I think of the chained dogs who have no house or are too thin and have no body fat to keep them warm.  Dogs who have frozen water and no hay to burrow in.  Cats who are left to go into hoods of cars to try to keep warm and meet a terrible fate in the morning.  I know I can't save them all but I just might die trying to do it.  

Dog Found Floating On Ice In Half-Frozen River

OMAHA, Neb. -- A Nebraska dog needed some human assistance this week when he found himself floating on a piece of ice in the half-frozen Platte River. Residents along the river had noticed the dog on the ice out in the middle of the river on Wednesday. Efforts to reach Max failed because he was just too far from shore. By the time professional help from the Nebraska Humane Society and the Cass County Sheriff's Office arrived, Max had decided to take a chance and plunge into the river. With verbal encouragement from shore, the dog made it to land and was rescued. After a physical examination from the Humane Society, Max is expected to be reunited with his family.