Watchdogs Wanted

Last week, PETA’s Community Animal Project (CAP) received a call for help from an indigent man whom we had already provided with a doghouse and spay surgery for his own dog. The man had tried, without success, to nurse back to health two sickly dogs whom he had found by the side of the road (they had likely been abandoned). A CAP fieldworker rushed out to check on the animals and found that they were horribly emaciated (with protruding hips and spines), lethargic, dehydrated, and covered with hundreds of ticks. We attempted to give both dogs a good meal, but one dog was too weak and sick to even eat so we loaded both dogs into a cool, air-conditioned vehicle and gave them a comfortable bed.

When these dogs were brought back to PETA headquarters, both were found to be severely anemic and the male could barely hold himself up without assistance. Their horrible health problems were probably the reason why they were abandoned in the first place.

PETA wouldn’t have known about these dogs if the man who found them hadn’t called, and local authorities might not know about animals in distress in our own neighborhoods unless we inform them. So, for the love of dogs, let’s be watchdogs for animals in our community and alert police and animal control officials the minute we know or suspect that an animal is suffering.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post