Cruelty to Service Animals

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Upon returning from a trip on the Gulf Coast on April 29, 2007, a smaller canine allowed his natural instinct to sprint away from his Handler after riding in a vehicle for nearly four-hours. This "testing" canine looked back not once, but twice, and then sprinted for the road in front of the house. It was not possible for the Handler to stop him, because he darted in between two residences and by the time his Handler reached the front yard, he was heading west with all of his incredible speed. The Handler decided to sit on the front porch and wait for someone to telephone her; typical of what has happened in the past, but no telephone rang. After about 20-minutes, she spotted the canine to the east at a neighbor's house and called out to him. The canine sheepishly returned to her side, with approximately a 4-inch diameter of wet hair on his back, above the tail.

The Handler's first thought were sand fleas from the Gulf state she visited probably causing him to lick the area, making the hair rather damp but on the next afternoon, she noticed the spot was larger, missing hair and called his veterinarian. The Handler decided to bathe him before taking him in to see his doctor, but by the time she finished, it was too late for the visit. On May 1, 2007, the Handler made a frantic call early in the morning to the Veterinarian's office when seeing the canine was missing more hair and the spot had increased in size. Her Service Animal underwent surgery that morning, to clean the area and remove the skin, but no sand fleas or other insects of any kind were found by his veterinarian and a mystery as to what happened was left unresolved.

After nearly ten days of recovery, the Handler became increasingly suspicious and his Veterinarian again saw her Service Animal on May 9, 2007. "This looks to me like a burn - a serious burn, and we need to remove these layers of skin that have hardened into a crust". The Veterinarian explained as he gently touched the area while the canine sat quietly - the skin was dead. "We, as Handler's for Service Canines are not supposed to get 'attached' to our working animals", she explained with tears in her eyes." The doctor nodded his head and acknowledged the difficulty she was experiencing and then the Handler left her Service Canine at 2:15 PM within good hands and returned home to wait. At 5 PM, she returned to the Animal Clinic to retrieve her 'support system', who seemed not bothered at all by having the dermal layers of skin removed from his back for a third degree burn he suffered when someone evidently threw something at him during his escape on April 29. It was later determined a product known as a grass and weed killer was squirted at her Service Canine when he apparently approached a stranger in a front yard, which caused the third degree burn. A police report was filed. The wound healed and the animal recovered.

Service Canines are prime targets for horrible accidents if they are natural "sprinters" and can become "targets" or get hit by a car darting across the road. They can also suffer trauma from various types of accidents and some canines may never be able to regain their learned tasks or be able to continue performing as Service Canines. Remember, no matter how well trained your Service Animal may be, he/she is still an animal with natural instincts that no amount of training can prevent! Protect your Service Animal by being aware of his/her character AND birth given instincts!