Maggot infestation of dog and 9 puppies, 5 die
Kansas City, MO (US)Incident Date: Friday, Jul 8, 2005
County: Jackson
Disposition: Alleged
Abuser names unreleased
A dog with nine puppies eaten so badly with maggots that five pups would die raised a special ire in the Kansas City Humane Society agency.
On July 8, the agency took a rare step in filing a formal complaint and pursuing prosecution against the man they say brought the German shepherd and her puppies to the shelter last week.
The entire family of dogs was infested with maggots, Wayside Waifs spokeswoman Jenny Brown said. Some puppies were eaten so badly their eyes were gone and brain matter was exposed.
"It was so heinous, so horrendous," Brown said.
But the reason the agency is pursuing prosecution, she said, is that "this guy didn't say, 'I've got a problem.' He didn't recognize there was a problem."
Brown said the man told Wayside that he had to go out of town on a family emergency and that if the mother dog was still at the shelter when he returned, he might adopt her back.
If the man had come in seeking help for dogs that he acknowledged were neglected, Brown said, "we would've taken them in and probably not filed complaints against him."
The distinction is important, she said, because the agency does not want to discourage people from getting help for neglected or abused animals.
The alleged owner of the dogs could not be reached for comment Friday.
Kansas City's animal control director, Mike Schumacher, visited the shelter Friday, seeing the surviving dogs and the pictures Wayside Waifs staff took of them a week ago when they first came in.
"It's a bad one," Schumacher said of the case. "It's one where we will want to see someone held accountable."
Schumacher took Wayside's complaint, he said, and he expects the evidence will be presented to Jackson County prosecutors for possible charges.
The man who dropped the dogs off gave the shelter a Kansas City, Kan., address as his home, Brown said. The agency also notified authorities there.
The Kansas City, Kan., Police Department's animal control director, Jack Jones, said investigators went to the address Friday morning and found no one home. Jones said the investigators found one dog on the property that was in "fabulous" condition. He said there were no indications of abuse or neglect.
Wayside Waifs intends to file a formal complaint with Kansas City, Kan., authorities in addition to the Missouri complaint, Brown said.
The mother and puppies' conditions have improved quickly during the past week, Brown said, and the agency is looking for a foster home for the family.
The fact that the surviving dogs are becoming healthy again, Schumacher said, shows that the infestation should never have been fatal.
"These animals should have received a veterinarian's care a week prior or earlier," Schumacher said. "Any responsible owner would have done that." References« MO State Animal Cruelty Map
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