Pitbull puppy burned with acid draws worldwide anger

[muchlove]

Sunday, March 19, 2006
Puppy scalded by acid draws worldwide anger
By Craig Welch
Seattle Times staff reporter



Animal advocates from around the world have expressed their outrage over the treatment of a pit-bull puppy in Federal Way that had to be euthanized after it was burned with acid over most of its body.


Pasado's Safe Haven, a nonprofit animal rescue and rehabilitation center in Sultan, said it continues to receive angry calls and e-mails from around the United States, Canada and Europe about the 4-month-old puppy whose body, face, mouth and paws were so severely scalded that veterinarians could not save it.


"We literally have been getting more than 80,000 hits an hour on our Web site," said Susan Michaels, Pasado's co-founder. "This case has struck a real chord."


A concerned neighbor brought the wounded female puppy named Mooie to Valley Animal Hospital of Auburn on March 10 after learning it had apparently been dumped in a backyard in Federal Way where children were playing.


"I've seen animals burned, tied up by their legs, thrown up against walls so their heads were smashed, but I'd never seen anything like this," said veterinarian Ivy Engstrom. "This was one of the worst things I have ever seen."


Up to 80 percent of the dog's skin was burned. Engstrom feared its intestines had been destroyed by whatever it ingested.


"This poor baby would have needed all of its skin transplanted. There was just nothing left to save."


The burns were so powerful that a hazardous-materials team eventually responded to the vet's office because workers were having trouble breathing, and experiencing rashes and burning on their arms and necks.


Investigators told Engstrom they thought it was a type of acid that can be used for cleaning concrete, such as in a swimming pool, but that may sometimes be used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.


Engstrom, frustrated that authorities didn't appear to be taking the case as seriously as she hoped, contacted Michaels. Both said they were later disappointed to hear that Federal Way police and King County Animal Control each thought the other agency was responsible for investigating the animal cruelty, which is a felony.


Attempts to reach officials at both agencies were unsuccessful Saturday night.


Regardless, Pasado's Safe Haven offered a $10,000 reward for information about how the animal was burned. Outraged callers and e-mailers have increased that to more than $15,000.


Pasado's co-founder Mark Steinway has been conducting his own investigation.


He, Michaels and Engstrom also were upset that authorities cremated the dog, rather than perform a necropsy.


"As far as we're concerned that was mistake No. 1; you don't destroy the only evidence in a case," Steinway said. "Now there's literally no way to determine what caused the burns on that puppy unless you talk to the vet or determine it through photographs. Right now, we fear too much time has gone by."


Steinway said it's important to take these cases seriously — not just for the animal's sake but also because such cruelty may portend violence to people.


"Anyone who would do this to an innocent puppy probably wouldn't hesitate to do something to a human being," he said.

seattletimes


Updates on the investigation here, along with a petition link :
http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/CRUEL...Puppy_Acid.htm

[Voodoo Child]

I can't say I am a fan of the pitbull but that is really cruel and awful.

[Tati]

What the hell is wrong with people? I can only hope this was some sort of industrial accident, though of course I'm not going to throw blinders on and pretend that's the case.

[PaintTheTownRed]

I took my pitbull for training at the local pitbull rescue-the stories!!! One dog in my class has it's face sliced to pieces with a machete. It took the vet hours to sew the dog's face back together. He's the sweetest dog and now has a happy home with one of the volunteers. Other pitbulls had their ears cut off with scissors and knives because their owners wanted them to look mean. The dogs were left with little knobs on their head. Also many of the scumbags who fight pitbulls take the dogs who they think are too sweet and use them as bait with the fighters. All of these puppies get torn to shreds. My vet has two pitbulls that were baiters. Someone found them almost dead dumped on the side of the freeway, my vet had to sew them back together. He fell in love with them and kept them. Because so many people hate this breed it's like a free reign of violence on them.

[moomies]

My neighbour's kid did something like this to my pet chipmunk when I was in grade 4. The neighbourhood was issued insecticides to put it in the little ditch that was in the front and my parents left the little bottle of it right by our outdoor water hose (it was on our property!!)
My neighbour's daughter is mentally challenged, she came into our yard and I really don't know why but she pour that thing onto one of my two chipmunks I had in a cage that we had kept in the garage.
I have no idea if she knew what the hell was in the bottle (she was like in grade 1-2) and what made her do it.
Ppl like this should really be put away in a mental institute.

[mklady]

They mentioned in the article about pool chemicals and that worries me. Ours are in the shed where our dogs are. Keep in mind, half the shed is fenced in with chain link panels and they have a dog door in the side to go out into their kennel but they are still in there. That was so dumb to not do the autopsy, how else are you going to know what was used?

[chatterweb]

I am going to give my pit bull a hug right now!!!! That is so sad!!!
People are assholes!!!!

[A*O]

If pitbulls were banned then they wouldn't be available for people to mistreat and torture in the first place. I don't care how many people say they are 'loving and cute' dogs, they are a menace to people and other animals. I'm especially pissed off about this at the moment as my dogs were attacked yesterday at our local dog park by a pitbull on a leash for chrissakes. It dragged the owner half way across the park, barking and drooling, and even though my dogs were smart enough to move away because they realised it was on a mission to hurt them, this bloody thing kept on coming, foaming at the mouth and intent on causing some serious damage. Just in time the owner managed to bring it under control and had the grace to apologise but excused it by saying the dog has 'anger management problems'. Well, so do I mate - so do I.......... I KNOW it's the owners fault, but if they didn't have access to these unpredictable dogs in the first place the problem would be solved. It's not like there aren't other breeds, although of course the nutters would just pick on dobermans or whatever instead.

[Barbara]

I'm scared of pitbulls and here it may (or may not) become illegal to own one, after a kid has been attacked and killed by one a few months ago.

But a puppy is a puppy, and the people who did that should be drowned alive in acid.

[PaintTheTownRed]

"pitbull on a leash for chrissakes. It dragged the owner half way across the park "

Umm A*O, if the pitbull was on a leash how did your dogs come in contact with it? If your dogs were off leash and running up to it causing the owner to get dragged around, YOU'RE the menace. BTW in the US, if your dog is off leash and a dog is on leash you would be be liable for any injuries to the dog and the owner. No matter how cute and "harmless" you think your dogs are, they behave differently when you are not around, they need to be leashed at all times. Legally(I'm guessing it's the same in Australia) you have to have your dogs under control at all times.

[eeyore0101]

I think its the owners that turn the pitbulls into violent animals - they just have a predisposition to it more than other breeds. If you raise them right, you have a lovely animal....

Also, if AO had her dog in a dog park, those are leash free.

[PaintTheTownRed]

"Also, if AO had her dog in a dog park, those are leash free."

Just because dogs are off leash at a dog park, the owner is still responsible for them and are required by LAW to have them under control. Regardless of the breed small or big, YOU are responsible for your dog when YOU choose to let it run around off leash.

People, with or without dogs, have every right to walk down a street or pass a park without having dogs running up to them. Even in enclosed dog parks, owners are responsible for their dogs.

[eeyore0101]

Originally Posted by PaintTheTownRed

"Also, if AO had her dog in a dog park, those are leash free."

Just because dogs are off leash at a dog park, the owner is still responsible for them and are required by LAW to have them under control. Regardless of the breed small or big, YOU are responsible for your dog when YOU choose to let it run around off leash.

People, with or without dogs, have every right to walk down a street or pass a park without having dogs running up to them. Even in enclosed dog parks, owners are responsible for their dogs.

I know you have to have them in control, I just commented because in your other post you were pointing out how her dogs should be leashed, so I just thought I'd mention that she was in a doggie park. No worries here, not taking any sides on the pitbull debate or anything, I love all doggies!!

[A*O]

Originally Posted by PaintTheTownRed

"pitbull on a leash for chrissakes. It dragged the owner half way across the park "

Umm A*O, if the pitbull was on a leash how did your dogs come in contact with it? If your dogs were off leash and running up to it causing the owner to get dragged around, YOU'RE the menace. BTW in the US, if your dog is off leash and a dog is on leash you would be be liable for any injuries to the dog and the owner. No matter how cute and "harmless" you think your dogs are, they behave differently when you are not around, they need to be leashed at all times. Legally(I'm guessing it's the same in Australia) you have to have your dogs under control at all times.

Let me guess, you are a pitbull owner.

1. My dogs came into contact because the pitbull dragged its owner 200m towards them. They were minding their own business sniffing around my feet (they always stay very close to me, I am the top bitch ) on the opposite side of the park.

2. My dogs were off leash because it's an Off Leash Park. Here in Australia we have such places so owners can legally exercise their dogs Off Leash. It's a good place to socialise your dog so it can interact with other dogs without trying to rip their throats out. Yes, they still have to be under control at all times so they must be trained to come when called, etc, and as a responsible owner I have trained my dogs to obey my commands. But since I was standing right next to them at the time watching them sniffing around (not checking behind me for an approaching feral pitbull - my bad) I don't think that makes me the "menace" in this situation.

3. Despite being leashed, the pitbull I am referring to was most definitely "out of control" and it was only the owners strength in physically restraining it that prevented a very unpleasant incident. Even if my dogs had been on leashes the same thing would have happened and that's not the issue anyway.

[A*O]

PLAY??? You're joking right? The dog was snarling and snapping and going fucking psycho. I know an aggressive, attacking dog when I see one thanks. The owner apologised too so he knew there was a problem. And yes, it was most definitely a pitbull. The Victorian state Govt (not sure about other states) is sufficiently concerned about pitbulls that they are introducing legislation to make registering and desexing them mandatory so eventually the breed will disappear. Of course, there will always be morons who keep unregistered breeding dogs but they won't dare take them out in public because it will be obvious they have illegal dogs and they will be prosecuted. Good. However, it won't solve the problem of idiot people breeding aggressive dogs, they will just pick other breeds instead.