Neglected Animal Saved
By Joanna Gaitanoglou
December 30, 2003 JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI --
It's a problem area animal
shelters see too often and can't seem to stop ... that problem ... neglected
animals. Local officials say animal neglect leads to lots of health problems
and even death for many pets. One case of dog neglect has the Mississippi
Animal Rescue League very upset.
They say animal neglect happens far too many times in the metro area and
that's why they're telling the story of an innocent dog that almost lost her
life.
"She has a lot to give," says veterinary technician Cathy Elliot. "You can
see it in her eyes." Elliot is talking about Holly, a mixed breed puppy
who's become one of the newest residents. There wasn't much left of Holly
when investigators picked her up from a central Jackson residence last
Friday.
"This condition does not come overnight," Elliot says of Holly's emaciated
body. "This is months to years of total neglect. It's like her body has
atrophy, or is kind of wasting because she doesn't have the nutritional
benefit of building strong muscles. On an emaciation scale of one to ten,
ten being the worst, I'd put her at a ten, plus one."
The Mississippi Animal Rescue League received calls about Holly from some
concerned neighbors. When investigators went to pick her up, she was chained
to a fence. Debra Boswell, who works at the Rescue League told us, "She had
no food, no water. Neighbors had been throwing her small bits of food from
time to time. Basically the bottom line was she was in poor condition. The
option for the owner was to release him to our custody or face criminal
charges."
The owner cooperated, and now volunteers are trying to make Holly healthy
again. Elliot explains, "When an animal is this hungry, you don't want to
fix a great big meal and just throw it at them because it will make them
severely ill. She's very accepting of anything that contains our touch."
But Elliott isn't very accepting of the way Holly was treated. "If you
cannot financially afford the care of an animal, you do not need to have
one. It's like a human child."
We decided to pay a visit to the house where Holly was found. The people who
were home claimed that the owner of the dog was not around. "Did you see the
dog?" we asked. "Who was feeding it?"
Boswell reminds everyone, "If you don't care for pets, then just don't have
them. Turn them in to the Mississippi Animal Rescue League."
Boswell says the Mississippi Animal Rescue League gets about 10 to 15 calls
a week on animal neglect and those calls become more frequent during the
winter months. That's why Boswell wants Holly's story to be told. She
says, "Perhaps the public doesn't see this every day, and we saw this as an
opportunity to help try to educate some people about the needs of animals in
the community."
About five hours after interviewing Debra Boswell at the Rescue League,
someone brought in another dog that was so neglected, it looked worse than
Holly, and it had to be put to sleep. So this problem is an everyday reality
for the folks at the Animal Rescue League.
As for Holly, she can be adopted, but she's going to need a very loving
family that will have the financial means to take care her. She may have a
host of other health problems as a result of the neglect, including heart
worms. And the treatment can get very expensive.
If you know of an animal that's being neglected or if you want to help the
Mississippi Animal Rescue League take care of these animals, give them a
call at 969-1631.
