A 2 1/2 -year-old black lab mix was resting comfortably on Sept 28 after having emergency surgery to remove an embedded logging chain in his neck earlier this week.
"He's friendly, jumping and running around the house," said Illinois Humane investigator Andy Torrez, who found the dog dehydrated and emaciated Tuesday morning at an Alton home.
"When I first went up to him, he was a little skittish. But after I talked to him for a little while, he was all right."
Lazarus, a name given by employees at the Alton Area Animal Aid Association Humane Society, was handed over by his owners on Sept 26. Torrez said the dog had been chained to a tree behind the home, but his chain had become so tangled he couldn't move more than 6 inches.
Torrez went to the home after receiving an anonymous phone call about a dog being tied to a tree without any shelter.
The owners told Torrez they had just planned to take the dog to the country and "get rid of him," he said. They also could not remember when the dog had been fed last and told Torrez they couldn't afford a veterinarian.
"Since (the owner) said he didn't have the money to take the dog to the vet and that he had just planned to take the dog to the country, we wanted to move quickly to get him medical attention, so we asked the owners to surrender the dog," Torrez said.
Torrez said they were unable to take the owners' other dog into custody because it appeared the dog had shelter, food and water.
Lazarus was taken to the Alton Police Department, where a report was made by the department's animal control. He was then taken into emergency surgery at the Daniel Randall Veterinary Hospital in Godfrey.
Dr. Thorin Lindstrom, who performed the surgery on Lazarus to remove the chain, said it wasn't the worst case he'd seen, but it was still a bad situation.
The skin had begun to grow over the chain on the back of the dog's neck. The surgery was successful, but he must undergo another surgery so the wound can be cleaned to ensure the tissue on his neck heals properly, Lindstrom said.
"The most common thing to happen is for a pet owner to put a collar on a puppy and forget to loosen the collar over time as the dog gets bigger," Lindstrom said. "There is a big difference between the two cases. Having a dog in the back yard tied to a tree, that's more of true cruelty."
The Madison County state's attorney office is investigating possible animal abuse charges against the owners. Spokeswoman Stephanee Smith said no charges had been filed as of Thursday afternoon. Case Updates| Paula and Joseph Kelly (Madison County Illinois case numbers: 06-CF-2233 and 2232) have entered guilty pleas. They were both placed on probation for a period of 2 years. They were ordered to surrender the other dog in their care and agree not to own or care for any other animals for the duration of the probation, and to pay court costs and a statutory animal cruelty fee. | Source: Madison County States Attorney's Office
Update posted on Oct 15, 2006 - 6:17PM |
Two people from Alton were charged Friday with aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony, after they allegedly allowed a dog's chain to become embedded in its neck.
Joseph Kelly, 26, and Paula Kelly 24, both of the 500 block of Winkler Street, Alton, were charged in Madison County Circuit Court.
The embedded chain resulted in the dog suffering from a severely infected wound, and they then failed to get the dog treated by a veterinarian, charges state.
The failure to get treatment made the condition worse and increased the dog's suffering, the charges state.
Bail was set at $20,000 on each suspect.
The Kellys are suspected of mistreating Lazarus, a black Labrador retriever, who was saved Monday by the 5A's humane society of Alton, which investigated an anonymous complaint.
A caller reported the dog was tied to a tree with a thick, heavy chain and had no collar.
Once an investigator with the Alton Animal Aid Association retrieved the dog, Dr. Thorin Lindstrom of Daniel Randall Veterinary Clinic in Godfrey took 20 minutes to remove the embedded chain from the dog's neck, while trying to keep the gaping wound clean.
The veterinarian said Lazarus would have died from the infection, had it not been treated.
Humane investigator Andy Torrez of 5A's rescued the dog and took the case to the Madison County State's Attorney's Office, which filed the charges Friday. | Source: The Telegraph - Sept 30, 2006
Update posted on Oct 2, 2006 - 8:15PM |
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