Shelter dog attacked - large gash in its side
Winnabow, NC (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003
County: Brunswick
Disposition: Open
Case Images: 1 files available
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
A dog at a no-kill animal shelter was found Tuesday morning still alive in its kennel with a large gash in its left side. Heidi, a 4-year-old boxer mix, went through more than an hour of surgery Tuesday afternoon at Companion Animal Hospital in Shallotte, where veterinarian Brad Kerr closed the gaping wound.
A volunteer at Paw's Place in Boiling Spring Lakes made the disturbing discovery around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Almost positive that someone slipped into the shelter after it closed Monday with the intent to mutilate an animal, shelter President Nancy Janovetz filed a report with the Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department.
"This is just sick," Mrs. Janovetz said. "She's one of the most gentle dogs we have out there."
Entering its fourth year, Paw's Place, a nonprofit no-kill shelter that relies on donations, met resistance when it first opened in the 3700 block of Boiling Spring Lakes Road.
"In the very beginning, they didn't want us to be there," Mrs. Janovetz said. "We were threatened by our neighbors. They would shoot our signs and threaten us and our animals."
Open opposition and threats quieted after the shelter installed security cameras and attended Town Council meetings with an attorney working on behalf of Paw's Place, who assured the neighbors that the shelter was legal.
On first appearance, it looked like someone tried to cut a nearly perfect square patch of flesh from Heidi's side. But Dr. Kerr said by the time the volunteer discovered the wound Tuesday morning, it had enough time to dry, causing it to open further.
Heidi will be sore for a while but is expected to recover, Dr. Kerr said. Because he had trouble keeping the wound closed after the surgery, Dr. Kerr said, Heidi will remain in the hospital for at least a few days.
The cut missed penetrating any vital organs or the dog's chest wall, he said. Measured before surgery, the wound was 7 inches long, 4 inches wide and an inch deep at its deepest point.
Dr. Kerr stopped short of saying for certain that someone intentionally cut Heidi. The wound did not resemble a bite from another animal and likely wasn't self-inflicted, he said.
On some areas immediately around the wound, Dr. Kerr noted bruising of the dog's skin, which suggests a tearing trauma. It also did not appear that a serrated knife had been used to make the gash, although it was hard to tell because of the condition of the skin, he said.
Mrs. Janovetz said a security tape revealed a commotion in the back kennel area. She said she hopes the tape will help lead to a suspect.
Heidi is not a fence-climber or jumper, she said, lessening the chances that the dog accidentally cut herself. The dog is also afraid of people, Mrs. Janovetz said. At the first sight of an intruder she would have run into her kennel, which is where Mrs. Janovetz believes Heidi was attacked.
Volunteers left Heidi's kennel door open Monday night, as they typically do to allow the [RTF bookmark start: SAVEHERE][RTF bookmark end: SAVEHERE]dog room to stretch her legs in a larger fenced-in gravel area, she said.
Mrs. Janovetz and her husband, James, have offered a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who cut Heidi.
The shelter was already struggling to make payments on vet bills that total about $3,000 before adding the bill from Heidi's surgery, Mrs. Janovetz said.
Visit Paw's Place on the Web at www.pawsplace.org. Anyone with information is asked to call the Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department at 845-2247or 911. References« NC State Animal Cruelty Map
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