Alabama: Starving, diseased Russell County German Shepherd’s neglect provokes shock, anger

ALABAMA -- After more than 40 years of pet rescue, Jo Vaughn thought she seen it all – the worst of the worst in diseased or injured animals.

But she had never seen anything like this: a starving, abused young female German shepherd, surrendered to the sheriff’s office in Russell County, covered in mange.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen,” Vaughn said Thursday, the day after she picked the dog up from the Phenix City-Russell County Animal Shelter and took it straight to veterinarian Tommy Horne’s office in Eufaula, where Vaughn’s Southern Souls Animal League is based.

OK, what about the owner being charged with animal cruelty??

“She was loaded with every type of parasite there is,” Vaughn said of the dog rescuers named Freya (FRAY-ah), which means “lady” in old Norse, the name of a goddess.

“Another 48 hours and she would not have made it,” Vaughn said.

Freya has Demodex or demodectic mange, caused by tiny, oblong mites that feed on a dog’s hair follicles and oil glands. Most dogs are hosts to the mites, but most don’t have a breakout. Those that do, and belong to attentive pet owners, are easily treated with over-the-counter medications available at Tractor Supply or Wal-Mart, Vaughn said.

“This could have been taken care of immediately,” she said.

It was not. It was allowed to progress until the mites got into Freya’s intestines. “They were even in her eyes,” Vaughn said.

Touching the skin lesions made them burst open and bleed. “You could not touch this dog without her screaming,” Vaughn said. The shepherd was anemic from blood loss.

They wrapped the dog in soft cloth for the 45-minute drive from Phenix City to Eufaula, where the vet applied medication, wrapped Freya’s legs and sedated her. Thought to be about 3 years old, Freya likely will spend 10 days under Horne’s care.

“She is skin and bones,” Vaughn said, adding that Freya’s scared, too: “Somebody has been very abusive to her.” When anyone enters Freya’s kennel, the dog hides in the corner and tucks her head, Vaughn said. “It breaks my heart.”

She doesn’t know whether owners surrendered Freya to the sheriff or if someone just found the dog, but she doesn’t think Freya was a stray. “This is just neglect,” she said.

Now rescuers face the challenge of funding Freya’s recovery. Southern Souls has appealed to donors on Facebook, posting photos of Freya that provoked shock and outrage from followers.

Anyone who wants to help can donate to Southern Souls through PayPal at www.paypal.me/ssal, said Anna Shepard, who works with Vaughn.

Donations for Freya also can be routed through www.sweetpawsrescue.org/donate or donors can send a check directly to Dr. Horne’s practice, Vet Clinic of Alabama, 1218 S. Eufaula Ave., Eufaula, Ala., 36027.

(Ledger Enquirer - Nov 3, 2016)