HAYWARD -- A local animal group is raising money to help pay the medical bills for a puppy that was nearly killed when a man allegedly threw it against a wall. The man, a 19-year-old Hayward resident, was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty and drug charges. He is not being identified because he has been charged with misdemeanors, not felonies.

The puppy, a 7-week-old male pit bull terrier, was seized by police Feb. 9 and taken to an emergency animal hospital. Now, Alta Vista Veterinary Clinic in Hayward is providing medical care. Although the doctor there has discounted her rates, the bill already is estimated to be between $3,000 and $5,000, said Christine Bowman, clinic office manager. "You should have seen the puppy when it came in. It was awful. He was crying and howling," Bowman said. The puppy had a broken leg, a fractured rib and head injuries. His brain was swollen, and he vomited and had seizures. Although the dog now is eating on his own, the brain swelling has left him blind -- a condition Bowman and others hope is only temporary. The dog's name was "Tek," but the clinic renamed him "Cupid" because he started to get better on Valentine's Day, Bowman said.

According to a police report, the man argued with his pregnant, 20-year-old girlfriend about sex, choked the dog and threw him against a wall mirror at the home the couple shares with the man's mother, then put a gun to his head and threatened to kill himself. Police arrested the man, who was on probation, that same day and found drugs in his room. He is being held in lieu of $10,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court today.

If the dog recovers, the Hayward Animal Shelter will put him up for adoption.

Police arrested a guy for parole violation and found dogs at his residence. He denied that he owned them and wouldn't say who did, so police confiscated the dogs. This poor mama dog was found on a chain, starving to death, and covered in fleas and flystrike.

Little Lila and Lilly are ones of the rare lucky PitBulls who are rescued in time and given a second chance at life.

"I work at an Animal Hospital in Pa. We handle a lot of pitbulls from the local humane society, and see a lot of dogs that have been fought. Here's is a sad story: A few nights ago, a Pitbull was picked up by the local humane society and brought to us. It had been in a fight and lost, so his owners beat him (probably with a baseball bat) possibly shot him, and then threw him off of a bridge. It took almost two days before someone called for him to be picked up. Even though he had suffered greatly, he was still friendly towards people. Unfortunately his injuries were so great that he was not able to be saved, even with people willing to spend all they could to do it. How someone could do this to a dog, I will never understand. No matter how many times I see animals treated like this, it still makes me sick." Nichole

Rescued by policeman in Chicago

Rescued by policeman in Chicago

A victim of sick individuals' passion for blood sports.

BY CURTIS LAWRENCE STAFF REPORTER May 5, 1999

A gruesome string of dog killings on the West Side--in which the animals were tied to railroad tracks and left to be struck by trains--has prompted Cook County Crime Stoppers to offer its first canine-related reward. "Four dogs basically have been murdered," said George McDade, a Crime Stoppers spokesman. "To tie a dog down to a railroad track and have a train run over them is just pathetic." A fifth dog was rescued by railway police and given to the Anti-Cruelty Society, but it was later euthanized because of a respiratory illness.

McDade said the organization is willing to pay up to $1,000, the top amount it has ever paid, for information about the killings. The dogs have been found in the past month on the Belt Railway tracks between Roosevelt Road and the Eisenhower Expy. just east of Cicero Avenue. Three of the dogs were pit bulls, one was a Doberman and one was a German Shepherd mixed with another breed. The last killing, involving a pit bull, happened last Friday. "We believe that quite possibly these dogs were fighting dogs at one point," said Mark O'Donnell, chief of the Belt Railway Police Department. "Maybe they didn't fight good and [the dog owners] wanted the dogs killed, or it could be a person that just isn't right and is out there killing them." The dogs have been tied to the rails, and O'Donnell believes the dogs tire from trying to escape and lay down on the tracks to sleep. O'Donnell said the dogs tied to the tracks could be a danger to train crews if an engineer applies the emergency brakes. McDade of Crime Stoppers fears that a young child may see the dog tied to the tracks and try to rescue it.
Chicago Sun-Times