Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Starved dog abandoned, dragging 10 ft chain

Starved dog abandoned, dragging 10 ft chain
Mobile, AL (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, May 30, 2006
County: Mobile
Local Map: available
Disposition: Open

Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Case ID: 8887

Classification: Neglect / Abandonment

Animal: dog (pit-bull)

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Animal was offleash or loose

Some Midtown residents rescued a starved, dehydrated pit bull terrier found dragging a 10-foot-chain May 30, 2006 by calling Mobile Animal Shelter, but the dog will be put down next week because such breeds aren't put up for adoption, authorities said.

The leather collar around the dog's neck had "Spencer" stenciled on it, according to one of the residents who found it wandering the neighborhood. The dog was so thin it was able to slip through the narrow bars of a wrought iron gate to get near the barbecue it smelled food being grilled in the back yard of a Hunter Avenue home in Midtown.

Janet Jordan, kennel manager at the Animal Shelter, said that the brown-and-white dog appears to be about 1� years old. It doesn't have scars or open sores that would indicate it had been used for fighting, and it was not aggressive toward other animals at the shelter. "He seems to be real friendly," the kennel manager said. "He doesn't bark at any of the other dogs." "He's been neglected as far as food," she said. "And when you do that ... their internal organs suffer too because of the lack of caloric intake." Jordan said the dog will be fed and given water and made comfortable for a week in case the owner wants to claim it. The dog will be euthanized
if not claimed, the kennel manager said.

"Our policy is we do not adopt out pit bulls because a lot of people use them for fighting, and because he is a fighter, you never know," she said. Sarah Hopson, director of Mobile County Animal Control based in Prichard, said they have the same policy when it comes to pit bulls.

"We don't adopt out pit bulls. The liability is too great," Hopson said Jordan and Hopson said owners of pit bulls never claim them because they know they could be fined or jailed on a cruelty to animals charge. A person can be fined $172 for allowing a dog to "run at large," Jordan
said. Elizabeth Flott, humane officer with the Mobile Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said that cruelty to animals is a Class A misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $2,000 and a year in jail Jordan said Mobile Animal Shelter gets about five pit bulls a month.

Bill Fassbender, director of animal control at the Mobile Animal Shelter, said that most of the pit bulls they pick up show signs of starvation and dehydration. "It's almost the fighting weight," he said of the pit bull found in Midtown. "They (owners) like to keep them down thin for the fighting. I guess because they're quicker or something."

Case Updates

A Mobile judge has temporarily spared the life of Spencer, the pit bull terrier found more than a week ago starved, dehydrated and dragging a 10-foot chain along Hunter Avenue in Midtown.

The owner of a pit bull can claim it, but no one has come forward to acknowledge ownership of Spencer. The dog was scheduled to be put down June 9, 2006, until WABB-FM 97.5 radio personality Cherish Lombard intervened.

Lombard, 23, said she was captivated and saddened by a close-up photograph of the dog's face that accompanied a Press-Register story about Spencer. "His eyes are saying 'help' to me," Lombard said.

Bill Fassbender, Animal Shelter director, said last week that pit bulls brought to the shelter are destroyed unless the owner claims them. The director said he doesn't like destroying pit bulls. But it's a nationwide practice, not just a rule made up by the local animal shelter. Fassbender declined comment on the issue when contacted. "I don't want to make any more statements until it's over with," he said. "It would be just adding fuel to the fire."

Lombard began a petition June 4, 2006 to stop the dog from being killed. Pit bull lover Amanda Kramer, 27, of Mobile got involved and, working through her attorney, was able to get a restraining order that delayed the euthanasia deadline to kill Spencer. The dog will get his day in court before Circuit Judge Roderick Stout, who will decide the animal's fate. Stout issued the restraining order, Kramer said.

Several local and out of state people have agreed to adopt the dog, Lombard said. "There are so many people and animal lovers who care so much about this and are supporting us," she said. Lombard said she has received at least 200 e-mails from people who have agreed to adopt Spencer or who are encouraging her to continue her fight to save him. The radio host said she has gotten e-mail from as far away as Tokyo, Germany and the Virgin Islands.

Lombard said that 1,454 people had responded positively to an e-mail petition to save the pit bull. Her goal had been to get at least 1,000 replies. Her e-mail address is [email protected]. She said 40 people also have signed a petition at the radio station and at least 20 from the neighborhood where the dog was found have signed a petition asking that authorities spare him.

Source: Mobile Register - June 7, 2006
Update posted on Jun 8, 2006 - 8:01PM

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WABB radio personality Cherish Lombard has begun a drive to stop the destruction of Spencer, the male pit bull terrier scheduled to be killed at Mobile Animal Shelter. Lombard said that she is seeking the help of the national and regional offices of the Humane Society.

Workers at the Animal Shelter said earlier in the week that the dog appears to be gentle, even though pit bulls have a reputation of being very aggressive and vicious when they attack. Spencer was rescued earlier in the week by Midtown residents. "I think the dog deserves another chance," Lombard said of the dog. "He is being judged for his breed and nobody is looking at his individual, good characteristics." According to Lombard, a Humane Society official at the national level expressed her concern for the dog, but she had not heard back from the regional official in Pensacola.

The 23-year-old radio host said she will try to get an injunction to delay or stop the euthanization. Lombard said she contacted Al Stokes, Mayor Sam Jones' chief of staff, but he refused to intervene. Stokes was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

Bill Fassbender, Animal Shelter director, said pit bulls brought to the shelter are destroyed unless the owner claims them, because the breed is considered too dangerous to be adopted. "The decision has been made," Fassbender said Friday. "I don't want to put the animal down no more than anybody else does, but we have to look out for the liability of the city and look out for the safety of the public." He said putting abandoned pit bulls to death if they are not claimed by their owners is a nationwide policy, not just a rule made up by the Animal Shelter. "I do not feel comfortable at all in turning a pit bull loose," Fassbender said. "We know nothing about this dog."

Deborah Ellis contacted the Press-Register after seeing a picture of the pit bull in the newspaper. She had hoped that Spencer, or whatever the dog's name is, was her long-lost pit bull that disappeared from her Theodore home more than a year ago. Spencer is white with tan spots. Ellis' dog had the same coloration but the pattern of the spots does not match.

Source: Mobile Register - June 3, 2006
Update posted on Jun 8, 2006 - 7:57PM

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Mobile Register - June 1, 2006

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Starved dog abandoned, dragging 10 ft chainMobile, AL (US)

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Starved dog abandoned, dragging 10 ft chain
Mobile, AL (US)