Around 5 p.m. Friday, officers from the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter responded to a report of an abandoned dog and puppy on Minto Road, a rural dead-end north of Watsonville often used to dump old furniture and other trash.
Officers found the mother dog, a 6-year-old sable, tan and white Miniature Pinscher, standing next to the body of a 4- to 6-week-old puppy, said Officer Todd Stosuy, field services manager for the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter.
The mother dog was frightened by the approaching officers, but refused to leave the body of her puppy. When she was placed in an animal control vehicle, the mother dog became distraught, crying and scratching at the door until the body of the puppy was put in the vehicle with her, Stosuy said.
Investigators determined that both dogs had been put in sandbags and thrown from a moving vehicle.
A necropsy performed by the shelter revealed that the puppy died from head trauma, while the mother chewed herself free of the sandbag and tried desperately to revive the younger dog.
The mother dog became so desperate that “in an attempt to revive the puppy, the mother accidentally bit the puppy’s tongue off,” according to the necropsy report.
“What makes this case so disturbing is that a person would decide that putting dogs in sandbags and throwing them out of a window like garbage was even an option,” Stosuy said in a statement. “There are always alternative options if you have an animal you can no longer keep, including surrendering them at no cost to Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter.”
Stosuy encouraged anyone with information about the case to contact the animal shelter’s emergency dispatch at (831) 454-7303. He also noted that the shelter accepts all domestic animals at its two locations, 2200 Seventh Ave. in Santa Cruz and 580 Airport Blvd. in Watsonville.
(SFGate - Feb 24, 2015)
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