Dog found with maggot-infested ingrown collar
Breslau, PA (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Jul 21, 2006
County: Luzerne

Disposition: Convicted

Defendants/Suspects:
» Candy Celler
» Steven Pursel

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Darren Stucker and his 12-year-old son were out walking the family dog on the afternoon of July 21 by the railroad tracks in the Breslau section of Hanover Township when they saw a stray dog heading for the woods.

They called to the dog and it came over, tail wagging and friendly as could be.

But when it drew near they noticed something was wrong. A wire noose was wrapped so tightly around the dog's neck, and imbedded so deep, "I don't think you could get it that tight manually," Stucker said.

"It was unbelievable. The dog was wheezing and his neck was crawling with maggots."

Stucker put the dog, a black and gray female terrier mix, in the back of his van and took it to Luzerne County SPCA.

Dr. Inayat Kathio, a veterinarian for the SPCA, operated on the animal Friday afternoon. He said when it came into the Pittston Animal Hospital, "I was amazed he was still alive."

Kathio, a veterinarian for almost 30 years, said this was the worst case of animal abuse he has ever seen.

In order to inflict such injuries, Kathio said, someone most likely dragged the dog behind a vehicle.

The animal not only had maggots in its neck wound, but also in its eyes, ears and anus.

"We started removing the maggots outside the hospital; then I took all my surgical tools and my table outside because the smell was so bad I thought people were going to start fainting, so we did the surgery outside," he said.

The wound around the dog's neck, caused by a 10-guage wire leash, had cut all the way through the neck muscles, severing the left jugular vein and exposing the spine, Kathio said.

He was surprised the 2-year-old dog was still alive, not only because it had a severed jugular vein, but also because it appeared the wounds were several weeks to a month old and the animal had "lost most of its blood."

"This is one of the worst conditions I have ever seen an animal in," he said. "When my staff saw this dog they just started crying, they couldn't believe someone had done this to the dog."

The animal is now in stable condition and was walking around after its surgery Friday, Kathio said.

Case Updates

References

• « PA State Animal Cruelty Map
  « More cases in Luzerne County, PA

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