Abuse of dogs and their abandonment at the gates of dog shelters of animal protection societies have become a usual act of cruel owners who are not deterred by animal cruelty-law and the enforcement factors.
About three weeks ago, the staff of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel were shocked when they found an Amstaff puppy of no more than four months old, tied to the gates of the Society. The little thing showed blood coming down from its ears, which had been cut cruelly. The severely bleeding puppy was quickly taken to the Society’s clinic and treated by Dr. Jelena Elgrably, who immediately gave him a transfusion for dehydration and blood loss. “The poor dog was suffering from terrible pain”, Dr. Elgrably explained. “He received a tranquilizer in an amount that was three times what a dog his weight should need, but he still did not fall asleep. He received anti-biotic treatment and a transfusion and eventually we sewed up his ears”.
After the puppy recovered we found him a warm home with the father of one of the Society’s employees, Moshe Gatenyo, when already during the hospitalization period in the clinic a relationship developed between them that led to a ‘love story’. Gatenyo: “At first it was not clear if he would survive, but I believed in him and I got close to him slowly. I decide to call him Shon, and today he is a friendly and obedient dog”.
As is known, an Amstaff is a dog from a breed that is considered by many to be dangerous and there arose a likely suspicion that the puppy’s ears were cut because his owners intended for him to take part in dog fights. That this “operation” was done, clearly, by a cruel amateur who endangered the dog’s life, shows even more how little these people feel for animals. The pictures speak for themselves and testify to an even broader problem. This specific abuse and the abandonment of this unfortunate puppy indicates the lack of ‘teeth’ in the law against cruelty to animals in Israel regarding enforcement and punishment. Volunteers of the so-called ‘animal police’ are probably trying their best, but until the authorities of the state decide to create a real enforcement factor that will deter those who perpetrate criminal acts against animals, many dogs will continue to suffer and to be the subject of acts of cruel abuse.
