Butler County Deputy Dog Warden Tonya Hanson ordered the owner, Elizabeth Lewis of Hamilton, to take Bruiser to an emergency vet clinic so he could be put to sleep and no longer suffer, according to a statement from Animal Friends Humane Society.
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| Elizabeth Lewis, 19, says she tried her best to care for her dog, Bruiser. She was charged with animal cruelty this week for the second time in less than a year. Here she shows where the dog fell down the stairs. |
Hamilton police went to Lewis’ apartment Monday after receiving a report that an emaciated dog had fallen down the stairs. They alerted the dog warden, who said she was horrified.
“I’ve been doing animal cruelty cases for 15 years and it is the most emaciated dog I’ve ever seen,” Hanson said.
Hanson said when she questioned Lewis about why she let the 10-month-old dog deteriorate so far, “her response was she knew it was being selfish … and that was all she said.”
Lewis was charged Tuesday with cruelty to a companion animal and failure to license a dog, both misdemeanors. She is scheduled to appear March 6 in Hamilton Municipal Court.
The vet clinic that euthanized Bruiser told the warden the dog’s body temperature was so low when he arrived, it didn’t register on a thermometer and he had been starved, according to the humane society.
This is not the first time Lewis has been charged with animal cruelty.
In August, the same dog was brought to the humane society by the dog warden. At that time, Bruiser was “extremely lethargic and malnourished, weighing in at 17 pounds,” according to the society.
Since Hamilton Municipal Court Judge Daniel Gattermeyer found Lewis not guilty, the dog was returned to her care. When Bruiser left the dog pound on Oct. 5, he weighed 38 pounds, the humane society said.
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| Gattermeyer |
A pit bull’s average adult weight typically ranges between 35 and 65 pounds, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
This time, Hanson said she plans to ask the judge to ban Lewis from owning more animals.
“I don’t want to give her another chance to mistreat another animal,” Hanson said.
Hanson referred questions on the August case and why the animal was returned to Lewis to the judge. Gattermeyer said he couldn’t really comment since there was another, similar case now in front of him involving Lewis.
“If something happened in the prior case that becomes evidence in this one, it wouldn’t be appropriate and legally ethical for me to comment on it,” Gattermeyer said. “It’s very difficult to comment in any way, but if a person is found not guilty, well, that would be the reason why the dog was returned. But it is sad a dog has died, any time a dog dies.”
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| Bruiser on Oct. 5, 2012, when he was forcibly returned to his abuser, Elizabeth Lewis, due to Judge Gattemeyer's decision of "not guilty". Lewis would go on to abuse and starve Bruiser to death |
Lewis, who is 10 weeks pregnant, said the whole situation is a big misunderstanding. She said Bruiser suffered from hereditary mange, a skin disease caused by tiny mites, common external parasites found in dogs. Bruiser also didn’t seem to want to eat at times, so she gave him anti-stress calming tablets.
She said she got Bruiser and a second dog, Buster, from a litter that her brother’s dog had last year and has tried her best to care for them while earning $800 a month working at a convenience store and now a warehouse.
Buster is now at the humane society. They took him in light of the second cruelty charge, Lewis said.
She said the August citation resulted from a misunderstanding between her and her former roommate, who mistakenly thought Lewis had abandoned Bruiser so she took him to the police, who called the humane society.
Lewis said the society had the dog checked out by a vet, who couldn’t prove the animal cruelty charge, so the judge found her not guilty.
“I feel like they are making it out like I am crazy because I have one dog who was sick,” Lewis said.
“You can ask all my friends. He ate dog food and treats. I am 19 and I am pregnant. I have a feeling people are going to look at it like ‘if this is what she does with her dog, what is she going to do with her baby?’”
She admits she knew Bruiser needed to be euthanized, but said she couldn’t afford the $200 cost, which she wound up paying anyway this week at the dog warden’s order.
Lewis said she had been trying to arrange for a relative to take the dog. Now she is afraid she will be found guilty of the current animal cruelty charge and sentenced to 180 days in jail and/or fined $1,000.
“I should have gotten him put down. I am not going to sit here and deny it,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do, but he’s gotten skinny before and then pulled back up.”
(app.com - March 5, 2013)
