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| Priscilla Bledsoe |
Priscilla Bledsoe of Smithville, who turned 59 on the day she was taken into custody, is charged with cruelty to a non-livestock animal, a Class A misdemeanor.
According to the arrest affidavit, a Bastrop animal control officer responded to a call about a dog injured in the roadway on Nov. 11. When the officer arrived he located the dog curled up on a couch on the porch of Bledsoe’s home.
The dog, a 4-year-old Great Dane named Claire, weighed only 70 pounds, half of what it should weigh. The affidavit also says the dog had no hair, open sores, red swollen skin, swollen feet, dirty and oozing ears, fleas, ticks, and smelled of yeast.
Bledsoe’s son was at the house and was unable to show the officer any type of food for the dog. The son also told the officer that his mother could not afford to take the dog to the vet.
Officers took Claire to the Bastrop Vet Clinic, where Dr. Sierra Guynn rated the dog’s condition as a one on a 1-9 scale -- just one level above death.
[This body conditioning score that they use says that a dog's weight should be about a 5. The higher the number, the fatter the dog. You can't go below a "1" score unless the dog is dead. Not having enough money for vet care is not a defense to prosecution. If you cannot afford vet care, take the dog to the shelter.]
Today, Claire is doing much better. She is now at a foster home after being rescued by Big Dog Rescue .
The rescue group said Claire should make full recovery, however she is now 75 percent blind and deaf.
The group told KXAN News they believed Claire’s owner would not be prosecuted because the Bastrop County District Attorney has a history of not prosecuting animal cruelty cases.
KXAN News sat down with the Bryan Goertz , the Bastrop District Attorney on Thursday and he said that’s simply not true.
“Animal cruelty cases in Bastrop County are just as important as any other criminal offense in Bastrop County,” Goertz said. “If you violate the law in Bastrop County, whether it’s animal cruelty or any other violations of the law, they are all taken very seriously.”
(KXAN - Dec 2, 2011)
Link: Big Dog Rescue
