If anyone deserves a public shaming, it's the guy who allegedly abandoned his injured but still very much alive pit bull in the dumpster of his Vickery Meadow apartment complex on Monday night.
For better or worse, that will have to wait. The man wasn't home (or didn't answer the door) when police showed up in the early hours of Tuesday morning at the Park Lane complex, which faces Top Golf. And while they know who he is, Dallas PD won't say unless he's been arrested and booked into jail.
Police did speak with the neighbor who called the cops. She told them she'd seen the man at about 10:30 p.m. dragging his red-nosed pit bull across the street. The dog was visibly injured and unable to walk.
See also: Justice, the Puppy Burned in Pleasant Grove Last Week, Died Last Night
She went inside for a few minutes. When she came back outside, the man was there, but the dog was nowhere to be seen. When she asked him about it, he told her it had been hit by a car. It wasn't going to make it, so he'd left it in the dumpster.
According to police, the woman peeked inside and found the pit, whining and desperately trying to crawl out. She called on the man to help her lift it out, but he said he didn't have any money to pay vet bills and walked away.
The woman eventually got the dog out of the dumpster and into her apartment. Animal control arrived and took the dog to its headquarters for treatment. We've contacted the shelter for an update on its condition.
Clearly, throwing the dog in the garbage was not the right call. But what's a cash-strapped pet owner supposed to do when their animal suffers serious trauma? Here's local animal advocate Jonnie England with some better options:
The number 1, and best, option is to take the dog to Dallas Animal Services (or the city shelter for any shelter). Or to call 911/311 if they can't get the animal to the shelter themselves. At minimum, the dog would be humanely euthanized at no cost to the owner. At best, if the DAS staff thinks the injuries are treatable, they can stabilize the dog and give pain meds and reach out to the animal rescue community to take the dog for further treatment.
Basically, pretty much anything, up to an including an Old Yeller-style execution, would be more humane than leaving it to bleed and freeze to death in a filthy dumpster.
Send your story tips to the author, Eric Nicholson.
