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LAKEPORT – Nellie is a big, friendly dog. If you judged her by her happy disposition, you'd never guess that she's been through a lot.
But she's desperately thin – even though she's put on nearly 20 pounds after more than a month in the care of Animal Care and Control officials. A gentle pat detects her ribs and backbone sticking out at sharp angles from beneath her brindle skin.
Nellie is one of several severely abused animals that Animal Care and Control recently took into their care.
“This is not normal,” said Animal Care and Control staffer Sara Schramm of the recent spate of abuse cases.
When Officer Terrie Flynn did a welfare check on Nellie on Aug. 11, she found the big boxer mix – a mix that may include some Great Dane – weighing a frail 46.8 pounds. Nellie's is considered the worst case of animal starvation Animal Care and Control has seen to date.
Flynn took the dog from her Lower Lake home, where her owner said she didn't have the money to feed the dog.
But that justification isn't a reasonable one, said Flynn. “We have been known to deliver dog food to people who have no money.”
During her first meal at the new animal shelter, Nellie was so hungry that she attempted to eat the metal food bowl, said Flynn. She also tested positive for heartworm.
Today, she continues to enjoy some hearty chowing down, plus plenty of dog biscuits lavished on her by the animal control staff. She sleeps on a big dog bed in the shelter office and wanders amiably around the grounds.
Besides Nellie, there are Sugar, Teiya and Dixie.
Sugar is an energetic 4- to 5-month-old shepherd/lab mix puppy that had been living in a Clearlake home.
Her 11-year-old owner became frustrated with her one day, picked her up and threw her to the ground. The result was a broken front right elbow.
Sugar has had to have two surgeries, one to place a pin in the broken elbow and a second to replace the pin after it came out.
Officer Eric Wood said the puppy's energy has been working against her; even with the leg in a sling she's frenetic and trying to play with the other dogs, which hasn't been helping the healing process.
Then there's Teiya, a year-and-a-half-old female pit bull that had been staying with her owners, a mother and her adult son, at a Scotts Valley campground.
Teiya, who appears to have had several litters of puppies in her short life, chewed up a tent, said Flynn.
That mistake cost her a severe beating. Her male owner allegedly beat her so badly that it broke her left hind leg.
Teiya's owners allegedly attempted to turn her in to Animal Care and Control in August, claiming that she didn't belong to them, that they found her after she was hit by a car.
Witnesses at the campground reported they saw the mother and son with the dog previously, Flynn said. Flynn herself became suspicious that the dog belonged to the two subjects.
The case, said Flynn, is still under investigation.
Teiya, meanwhile, had her leg placed in a cast at Wasson Memorial Veterinary Clinic, where she was monitored before returning to the shelter.
On Aug. 25 she underwent surgery to pin the bones in her broken leg, which wasn't healing properly. At the same time, she was spayed.
A month later, healed up and ready for a new home, she made an appearance at the Board of Supervisors' meeting as the pet of the week.
The affectionate pit bull is crate- and house-trained, has an outgoing personality, loves kids, cats and other dogs, and loves to play ball. A short video on the Animal Care and Control Web site, www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/DepartmentDirectory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm shows Teiya rolling around on the grass at the shelter, gently playing with a ball while her leg was still in a cast.
On a recent day at the shelter she was sharing a grassy kennel with another pit bull who fell on hard times, Dixie.
Formerly called Whiskey by shelter staff, Dixie was taken from her Lucerne home by Officer Wood on June 27 after Animal Care and Control was alerted to her situation.
She had been hit by a semi truck and left to cry in pain in her owners' backyard for two days, suffering from a crushed pelvis and broken leg, as Lake County News reported this summer. She also incurred internal nerve damage and injuries to her bowel and urinary tracts.
The sweet-natured Dixie is about 9 months old and, shelter staff say, loves everyone. She has undergone several surgeries at Wasson Memorial Veterinary Clinic to repair nerve damage in her hindquarters.
On Tuesday, she had to have her right hind leg amputated after her nerves failed to heal. The leg was dragging on the ground and getting sores, which shelter staff said was making her prone to infection.
Dixie returned to the shelter Wednesday morning and is getting around fine, according to shelter staff.
She has a new, loving home – with a big yard and other dogs to play with – waiting for her out of the county once her cruelty case is settled.
Wood said Dixie's case is currently on the desk of a deputy district attorney who handles animal cruelty cases.
Another case due to go to the District Attorney's Office is that of Luke, an elderly German shepherd who Wood rescued from a Clearlake home this summer. Luke was euthanized in July after the veterinarian determined that rehabilitating the dog, who couldn't walk, was impossible due to his age and weight.
Besides the pain and suffering of the animals, abuse cases are cause for concern for authorities because animal abuse has been linked to domestic violence and child abuse, according to the American Humane Association.
The group cited a survey of pet-owning families where child abuse and neglect was present; in 88 percent of homes where children were physically abused there also was evidence of animal abuse.
Is there actually a spike in local abuse cases?
Paula Werner, the shelter's program manager, and Animal Care and Control Director Denise Johnson don't think that's the case.
Johnson agrees with Werner's surmise that the public is getting more involved in reporting the cases because they're seeing results from the work of Animal Care and Control officers. When the public sees the job getting done, Werner said, they're likelier to contact the the department about other issues.
For the abuse survivors, shelter staff hope all of the animals will find new homes where their lives will be filled with love and security, not pain and fear.
Nellie and Sugar need medical clearance first before they can go to new homes. Schramm said she's already had inquiries about Nellie, who gets along with other dogs, is house-trained and always very excited to see people.
The animals can be visited at the new animal shelter, located at 4949 Helbush, next to the Lake County Jail, telephone 263-0278.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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