Rubber band wrapped around dog's leg
Trenton, NJ (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Aug 23, 2006
County: Mercer
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
Garfield Avenue resident Narlene Green spotted a distressed stray Pit Bull underneath a neighbor's porch on on the night of Aug 23 and called the city's animal control officers for help.
But when the officers failed, on two occasions, to lure the dog from its lair, Green took matters into her own hands.
What she found was a Pit Bull that appeared to have been deliberately injured and tortured, and with the help of some other area animal lovers, she tried to save the dog's life.
But her efforts came too late --the dog had to be put down.
Though she would only know the dog for a short time, Green decided to name her Destiny because she felt they were meant to be together.
"She wasn't coming to anyone," she said. "She was only coming to me."
Where the animal control officers had failed, Green managed to get Destiny to leave her makeshift shelter under the porch, by offering food, water and some kindness.
And once she had the dog in her arms, Green couldn't let go, as she set out to get the Pit Bull some help.
She went first to Columbus Emergency Vet Hospital, but found it was closed when she got there.
Green then called on Linda Ditmars, of Animal Allies, a local rescue group that Narlene has worked with in the past.
Ditmars suggested she go to the Center for Animal Referral and Emergency Services in Langhorne, Pa., and Green and her husband Harry headed there with Destiny.
"I held her in my lap from Columbus to Langhorne, from vet to vet, until I got her some help," she said. "If you saw them little blue eyes of hers, I just fell in love with her."
The vet in Langhorne would later tell Green that the cause of Destiny's troubles was a rubber band that someone had twisted around her leg, cutting off the circulation.
While at the time she didn't know what was causing it, she could see there was something wrong with Destiny's foot.
"I don't know what was around her foot, but the foot was swollen, black, oh my God," she said. "It just took my heart."
The dog also appeared to be severely undernourished, as Green thought she was only about three months old, but later found from vets that she was between six and nine months.
"She was just skin and bones," the outraged dog lover said. "She was nothing but bones."
Green has rescued other dogs in the past and said that she fully intended to take Destiny in to nurse her back to health if she had survived.
Initially Destiny's prognosis looked good, as the vet told Green she would likely survive, though the affected leg would have to be amputated.
"I said I don't care," she said. "I'll take care of a three-legged dog."
But soon after she was brought in, the doctors learned that the infection which started in the leg had spread throughout Destiny's body and ended up as a case of double pneumonia.
The decision was then made by Green, the doctors and Ditmars to put Destiny down.
"Whoever did this to Destiny cannot be allowed to get away with it," Ditmars said. "There must be someone who has seen this dog in her eight months of life and will recognize her picture and be willing to tell us who abused this sweet dog."
Ditmars, and her Animal Allies organization paid the $623 vet bill for Destiny and said they are willing to pay for information leading to the conviction of the dog's abusers.
Ditmars said her organization's funds are running pretty thin since paying for the dog's bills, but they've pledged, so far, $250 toward the reward and they're looking for contributions to raise the stakes.
Pledges or contributions to the group can be sent to Animal Allies, 1051 River Road, Trenton, N J 08628). References« NJ State Animal Cruelty Map
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