How long had he been there?
Maybe two months, said Roehrich, an animal cruelty investigator with the Boynton Beach Police Department. The time frame wasn't clear because as Roehrich said, she couldn't get a straight answer from the two people accused in the case.
"No strength, it was anemic, it was scared," Roehrich said of Buddy. "When I took it out and put it on a leash and fed it, of course it was my best friend for that moment."
It's a moment that wouldn't last.
Sadly, even though it was rescued, Buddy couldn't learn to trust humans and had to be put down about two weeks after his rescue. He tried to bite a vet and displayed aggression, which is not uncommon for neglected dogs, Roehrich said.
Hattie M. Isaiah, 51, of Flamingo Drive in Boynton Beach and Andrew Jones, 28, of Abraham Avenue in West Palm Beach are charged with one count each of cruelty to animals and unlawful abandonment or confinement of an animal.
The pair have been ordered to appear in court Thursday.
Police discovered the one-year-old dog on Feb. 12 in the back yard of Isaiah's Flamingo Drive home after a concerned citizen called police, Roehrich said.
Roehrich said they found Buddy tied up by a cable to the bumper of an abandoned car. His rib, hip and spine bones were visible and he had a large scar down the length of his back. Sitting in a patch of dirt with no grass and no shelter, he scratched incessantly at himself.
Near the dog, police found a metal kitchen pot with "green, algae-laden water" and an empty bowl, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Roehrich.
As well, his gums were white, indicating anemia, police said. He also had hairless patches.
"It's very apparent that the dog was not receiving nourishment on a daily basis at all," Roehrich said.
As for the home owner, Roehrich said Isaiah "blurted out inconceivable statements" to avoid responsibility for the dog when police found the animal. At one point she said that unknown people walk through her yard and that somebody had probably just tied him up and left him there.
Isaiah then said her son might know where the dog came from. When Andrew Jones arrived, he said his "homeboy" left the dog at the house because he couldn't take care of it anymore. He said that the dog's owner was someone named Christopher Hall, who died in a car accident on Christmas Day. By that explanation, the dog had been at the house for at least two months.
Hall, 25, of Boynton Beach, was killed Dec. 25, 2011 in a crash on North Seacrest Boulevard. A 2-year-old boy who was in the car was uninjured.
Police took the dog to Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control for treatment. When it was given dry dog biscuits, it "ate in a frantic manner," according to the affidavit.
Although it weighed 30 pounds, the dog grew to a healthier weight of 43.6 pounds after veterinarians gave him vitamins, food and deworming treatment. Normal adult pit bulls can weigh up to 60 pounds.
Despite the turnaround in his physical health, the dog became aggressive, Roehrich said.
Asked why charges are being laid now when the dog was rescued in February, Roehrich said it's not uncommon for a delay to occur between the initial investigation and the laying of charges from misdemeanor offenses because of backlogs in both her office — she's the only animal cruelty investigator with the BBPD — and in the state attorney's office.
(Sun Sentinel - July 30, 2012)
