Shawna Justice, a resident at Riverview, Michigan, was working on trapping some cats in their neighborhood when she happened to see a dog in someone’s yard. The dog appeared to be dying, but it looked to have lifted its head when another dog barked.
Justice called Riverview police, Saturday, to get help in rescuing the dog that was in a fenced yard and no one appears to be home. She said the officer who answered the phone told her they already knew about that dog and said nothing could be done. The dog was about 18-years-old and suffered from a hip dysplasia.
“To think he has spent God knows how long in that backyard dying like that is a very sickening thing,” Justice told local news.
To get help for the dog, Justice went live on Facebook and pleaded for people to call the Riverview police again and respond to her location quickly, because the dog, who appears to be a Greyhound-mix, was emaciated and was dying from the heat.
The officers did get to her location and told her they would call animal control by Monday, because they do not work on the weekend. Justice added that the officers told her they would check if the owners were home, and then they just left.
Justice stayed at the house until the dog’s owners returned home. They heard that Justice was live on Facebook, which made them upset about the situation. They reportedly told Justice that they would surrender the dog as long as it would not cost them any money.
If it’s not for Justice, Dr. Lucretia Greear of Woodhaven Animal Hospital, said the dog would have died.
“He’s moving better now, because he’s on pain medication,” Dr. Greear said.
The dog has been named Jake, and Dr. Greear clarified that Jake is only 10 years old (not 18) and did not have dysplasia. In reality, his pelvis was broken in two places that caused him so much pain resulting to him not walking.
When Jake’s former owners were asked about it, they said his back end was injured because the other dogs might have stepped on him. However, Dr. Greear said the broken bones could be a result of someone strucking him hard enough that fractured his pelvis, or he was hit by a car in the last four to six weeks.
Riverview police acknowledged that they were called into the house where Jake lived last May 12 to investigate a “dog malnourished.”
The Animal Rescue Funding Foundation (ARFF) is currently covering Jake’s medical costs, including his pelvis surgery and the removal of his teeth. Meanwhile, Woodhaven Animal Hospital will take care of him.
Related stories:
– Dog left to die in a hot car, owner charged with animal cruelty
– Florida lawmakers pushes new bill to make animal cruelty a nationwide felony
– Animal welfare groups rescue 50 dogs and 15 cats from euthanasia
