Texas School Principal Charged After Dog’s Leg Rots and Falls Off

TEXAS -- The principal of a private school in Houston claims it is “unfair” that she is being charged with animal cruelty after her three small dogs were found to be in deplorable condition, including one dog whose injured leg appears to have rotted and fallen off.

Rosa Martinez, 57, was arrested Monday and charged with two counts of animal cruelty after she took the dogs to Houston’s Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care. A veterinarian at the center alerted police, according to court documents.

The worst off of the animals was a female brown and tan Maltese and poodle mix named Rainy, which had only two legs. Court documents say that Rainy was in a malnourished state and her left paw had exposed bones.

The report also said that Rainy’s right rear leg appears to have rotted off after an injury had exposed about three inches of bone and it went untreated. A foul odor emanated from where the leg had been, the report said. It was unclear what had happened to the dog’s fourth leg.

In addition, the dog had thinning hair and hair loss over her mid to lower back, the court document stated.

Another white Maltese and poodle mix male was found suffering from a chronic ear infection and chronic staph infection, while a third dog was found severely underweight and suffering from sores, the report said.

Martinez told Police Officer Suzanne Hollifield that she had “over-committed herself to work and non-profit organizations.” She had “seen the dog limping but did not check on it,” she told the officer, according to the court document.

The officer also wrote in her report, “Defendant’s son had seen the dog on October 11, 2013 and told Defendant he could see the dog’s bone and that she needed to do something with the dog.”

Martinez maintains she didn’t know what happened to the dog, but surrendered the animals because “she was upset and realized she could not care for the dogs.”

Martinez could not be reached for comment by ABC News, but she defended herself to ABC News’ Houston affiliate KTRK, “It appears to be an accident that I was not aware of. I tried to make it right,” she said.

“It really upsets me,” Martinez said. “I know you have to have advocates to protect them. In my case, it’s not fair. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

The three dogs have since been released to Red Collar Rescue to obtain additional treatment.

Martinez posted $3,000 bond.

Martinez’s current employment status could not be confirmed by Houston’s Tenney private school.

(abc news - Nov 7, 2013)