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Dog left for dead in Dunbar

By Shannon Farr

An abandoned, blue-eyed pitbull died of starvation four days after being rescued from a Dumpster in Dunbar.
"They put Stormy (the pitbull) in two plastic bags in the middle of August," said K.C. Davidson, 62, of Hopwood. "It was almost, maybe, more than 90 degrees out there."

She said Stormy was so starved and dehydrated its ribs were protruding and the dog had scratches all over its body.

Davidson said she tried to feed Stormy through a syringe, but the dog's vital signs continued to go down hill.

She named the pitbull Stormy because the dog was found on a cold and stormy day. Stormy was found with no tags.
"The dog was so weak he couldn't hold his head up," Davidson said. "That's pretty sick when it can't hold up it's head."

Pet abandonment is not a new phenomena. Every day people nationwide abandon their pets. Many pets are abandoned because people move away from their homes and leave them behind.

Pennsylvania has the sixth highest number of neglect and abandonment cases in the nation. Florida remains at the top of the list of pet abandonment cases, according to www.pet-abuse.com, an online pet abuse database.

"People don't realize that abandoning a dog is a crime. ... a form of abuse," said Gene Malosky, board member of the Fayette County Humane Society.

An estimated 100 abandoned animals are brought into the Fayette County Humane Society every month and larger cities experience even higher numbers, she said.

A house pet is a domestic animal that cannot and will not survive on its own and will breed, adding to the number of homeless animals, she said.

When a house pet is abandoned, it can freeze or starve to death. The homeless animals also can spread infectious disease, attack humans and risk being killed by wild animals, said Charlotte Grimm, spokeswoman for the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania.

Neglect and abandonment are the top reported form of animal cruelty in Pennsylvania this year, followed by shooting and starvation, according to www.pet-abuse.com.

This is not the first animal rescue effort Davidson has participated in. She said her home shelters two cats from the Katrina disaster and a couple of sick dogs.

Davidson said she will continue to rescue abandoned animals and take care of them.

"The public is becoming less and less willing to accept animal suffering," said Dale Bartlett, spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States. "But I would say there's a rising trend of people not reporting abandonment."

Anyone convicted of abandoning or attempting to abandon any dog in Pennsylvania will pay a fine of not less than $300 and not more than $1,000, plus costs, said Randall Lockwood, spokesman for ASPCA. There is no threat of serving time in jail for animal abandonment, he added.

He said if a person notices that someone no longer has a pet or suspects they may have abandoned a pet, they should ask them about it and report it to local authorities.

If a person finds an abandoned animal, they should get it to the vet and file a report with the ASPCA, Bartlett said.

The animal may temporarily be lost, therefore calling the authorities is the best decision to make, Grimm said.

Many shelters are working to address factors that can lead to abandonment by providing behavior and training advice to owners, as well as promoting spaying and neutering and owner education, Lockwood said.

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