[In]Humanity

By Cindy Landrum  

NOVEMBER 19, 2010 11:26 a.m. (0)

“Pookie,” the chow-collie mix that was pinned in his doghouse with a cinder block and set on fire last week, is recovering from his injuries at a Greenville animal hospital.

While the horrible details of the case has sparked outrage in the community and pledges of financial support from as far away as California and Texas, animal control officials say it is far from an isolated incident.

Officers from Greenville County Animal Control respond to 12,000 calls a year, said Calvin King, the department’s lead officer.

About 1,500 of them are cases of abuse or neglect, he said.

“Nothing really surprises me any more,” King said. “We see it all.”

Recently, a man who stabbed a puppy with a knife, decapitated and gutted it and put it in an oven to cook and eat was convicted of animal abuse and sentenced to jail time, King said.

The department also recently removed 100 dogs from a mobile home.

“Even though you want to choke somebody, you can’t. You have to be professional, do your job and make the case,” he said.

Not all cases are so severe.

Many cases stem from an animal not having fresh food and water or shelter, King said.

“A lot of people are unaware of what it takes to provide proper care for an animal,” he said. “Intent is a key word. We try to work with people. But if we feel intent was there, we’ll take the case to court.”

When court is held the last Friday of every month, there’s usually at least one case of animal cruelty on the docket, he said.

Pookie’s owner had put the house on Perry Avenue up for sale. She left the 14-year-old dog she had since he was puppy chained to a dog house while she lived temporarily in a mobile home. She checked on the dog every day. The owner has given up ownership of the dog because she can’t afford the vet bill.

Kim Pitman, executive director of the Greenville Humane Society, said she finds it sad that people think leaving a dog behind is OK. “It’s a shame that it took something this extreme to ignite the public,” she said.

She said the Humane Society sees dogs so traumatized that they need to be placed in foster homes before they can be adopted.

“Some are so traumatized that they have to be coaxed back into believing in humans because they’ve been so mistreated,” she said.

Allison Rathert, who runs an animal rescue program, said she’s constantly getting calls about animals getting left behind when people move.

“It happens on a daily basis,” said Rathert, who received an e-mail the other day about a Pyrenees in Georgia left chained in the yard of an empty house.

Rathert fears it will only get worse.

“With times getting harder, I fear that we will see an increase,” she said.

Some no-kill animal shelters are not accepting any more owner-surrendered pets because they are over capacity.

“Most owners turn in dogs without feeding them. They’re starving to death,” Rathert said.

Occasionally, she’ll get a pet whose owner is extremely ill or died. But she said when people say they can’t keep the pet because they are moving, “maybe one out of 1,000 are really devastated – and that’s a safe estimate – really have fallen on hard economic times and really can’t afford to keep it. The majority of people don’t care when they turn in the animal.”

Pitman said the Humane Society has stepped up its education program to teach children how to treat and take care of an animal. They’ve presented to 30,000 children from kindergarten to 12th grade.

“Education is key,” she said. “Kids need to know that animals hurt just like they do.”

The Humane Society is piloting a program for juveniles who have gotten in trouble but are not already in jail. The juveniles come to the Humane Society and work with the animals.

“You see these big guys who are very clearly trying to look mighty and tough and have got that swagger thing going and they start interacting with the animals,” she said. “They realize what happens when you show something some feeling and love rather than kicking it and abusing it and treating it like a thing.”

Research has shown 40 percent of animal abusers have committed violent crimes against humans.

“If you can’t treat an animal with dignity, you can’t treat a human with dignity,” Pitman said.

She said the Humane Society wants to expand the list of juvenile organizations it works with and is trying to start a foster dog program at Phoenix Academy in 2011.

“That’s the kind of thing we need to do. Too many people live in a household where it’s OK to kick a dog or just leave it outside or to dump it out on the road and let it fend for itself. It’s all about education and example.”

Greenville Police Department spokesman Sgt. Jason Rampey said the department has assigned Pookie’s case to a criminal investigator and is investigating the incident as arson as well as an animal cruelty case.

He said the department has received several tips, but no arrest has been made.

Veterinarian Ann Malphrus said Pookie’s condition has steadily improved.

She said the dog would likely need surgery to remove dead skin from the top of his head. She said his eyes are still a major concern, but she’s optimistic he has some vision in his right eye based on his ability to negotiate around obstacles.

CrimeStoppers is offering a reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.