This is a fantastic story of our abuse investigation team in action.
At the end of April, the South Suburban Humane Investigators responded to a complaint of abuse & neglect in Chicago Heights, Ill. The complainant stated that dogs were running at large & one appeared to have something wrong with her eyes. Upon arrival at the property a buff Cocker Spaniel female was loose in the front yard. She appeared to be a nursing mother, extremely dirty & matted with two painful looking cherry-eyes oozing pus, red & swollen. The owner of the dogs on the property, opened the front door & the dog ran into the house. SSHS Investigators produced their credentials & explained the reason for the investigation. Owner stated she had one adult male "26", two one year old females "Wonder Woman" & "Baby Girl" mother of the six puppies. "Baby Girl" had two cherry-eyes & "Wonder Woman" had one cherry-eye. None of the adults were spayed or neutered & were not current on vaccinations. Investigators were allowed to view inside the garage where the mother & puppies were confined. The interior of the garage was crammed full of junk. "Baby Girl" & her pups were on a filthy blanket & the cement floor was covered with their excrement. The two other Cocker Spaniels were also allowed to defecate in the garage & had access to the mother & nursing puppies. The male was tied in the back yard without shelter, food or water. He was extremely matted as was the other female. Investigators viewed the six puppies, four weeks old & were informed that one had died. One of the puppies appeared not to be thriving. Investigators informed the owner of the violations of the Humane Care for Animals Act and informed the owner of the steps she needed to take to rectify the violations.
SSHS Investigators returned to the property to monitor the progress of the dogs. On 5/5/2009, the Investigators received a call that an adult Cocker Spaniel & one pup were running at large near the highway. Investigators contacted Animal Control & were accompanied to the residence. Upon arrival Investigators observed a female Cocker Spaniel & a pup loose in the front yard. The male Cocker Spaniel was tied up in the back yard. Investigators informed the owner that she needed to relinquish the adults & pups to SSHS so they could receive the care she was unable to provide. She agreed & signed them over to SSHS Investigators.
The puppies immediately went into foster care. The adults were all groomed, vaccinated, and cared for here at the shelter and as a result of the fashion show, the two females were adopted. The male also went into foster care due to the extreme neglect he suffered. His skin and ears were severely infected. Under the care of his foster mom, he dramatically improved but will continue to suffer from chronic ear problems.
On Sunday, May 31st, SSHS took dad and his 5 puppies for adoption at PAWS Chicago's Angels with Tails event. They caused pandemonium at the intersection of Oak Street and Rush in downtown Chicago! All of the puppies were adopted into extremely loving homes! And the male? He was adopted by an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor and his wife!! What a storybook ending to this tale....
