As the former enforcement agency of the animal cruelty and neglect laws of New Jersey, it is sometimes very frustrating for us to see abused animals come into the shelter but have no authority to pursue the perpetrator. As in many cases, it’s rather difficult to sit back and wait for the wheels of justice to turn.

Don’t think this an admission of regret in giving up the law enforcement powers; it was absolutely the right thing to do. It’s a scary world out there, and among all the other liabilities, investigations of animal cruelty can involve going onto properties that are simply not safe. The prosecutions are also becoming more and more complex, requiring a lot of administrative resources. Animal cruelty cases need and require the full backing of regular policing and prosecutorial support.

On Wednesday of last week, Millville Animal Control was called out to a property where a lockout was in progress. The landlord and the accompanying officer had spotted movement in the basement of the house and realized a dog was down there. The stench emanating from the house was overwhelming – exacerbated, I’m sure, by the overwhelming heat of the day.

When the dog was pulled up from the basement, it was clear that she had been left to die. She was living in her own filth, and even with her short fur, the feces was stuck to her legs and back end. She was severely emaciated. Her eyes were crusted over with the pus of infection. Her hair was missing in patches, and the fleas were literally sucking the life out of her. The animal control officer took her to the vet immediately to have her evaluated, and then brought her into the South Jersey Regional Animal Shelter.

Upon her arrival at the shelter, the staff began to work on getting her comfortable. She was given a small meal to get her stomach acclimated to feed again; she weighed in at 37.5 pounds, a good 15 pounds below what her normal body weight should be. We gave her a dose of flea and tick preventative and got her into the bath; the water literally ran red from the infestation. We cleaned up her eyes, flushed them with warm saline and began medication to clear up the infection. The veterinarian had also diagnosed her with otitis, so her ears were cleaned and medicated as well. She was sweet and compliant through it all; the more we worked on her, the more her tail wagged.

Viola, as she has now been named, was only a day or so away from succumbing to a combination of starvation, dehydration and anemia. She is a young adult, estimated to be a year to a year and a half old. In the few days that she has been in our care, we have seen her blossom into an affectionate, happy girl.  Hopefully, the course of her life has changed and she now has the chance to live long and be loved.

She came from a house on South 5th Street in Millville. The last known tenant was evicted and the animal control officer has no viable contact information for her. If you have any knowledge of the situation, please call the Millville Police Department and ask for the animal control officer, or call the shelter and we will be happy to refer it to the proper entity. With the change in law enforcement from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to our local police departments, your voice is needed more than ever in identifying and preventing abuse and neglect of helpless pets.

She was living in her own filth. She was severely emaciated. Her eyes were crusted over with the pus of infection.

Source: A dog left to die in Millville