Care urged for pets given as holiday gifts

1999 CASES

Animal abuse and neglect cases prosecuted in 1999 in the City of Las Vegas:

Vehicle confinement cases involving people who leave their animals in a hot car in the summer.

Injury and overwork, meaning deliberate acts of cruelty.

Substance deprivation, meaning the owner has failed to provide food, shelter, water or medical care. Animal abuse and neglect cases that were prosecuted in 1999 in Clark County:

Water deprivation.

Vehicle confinement.

Abandonment.

Medical neglect.

Enclosure too small

Combination of water deprivation and poor shelter.

Poor shelter

Many cuddly puppies given as Christmas gifts are likely to be dumped at local shelters this month -- a common Christmas present returned because the owner never wanted the animal in the first place, shelter officials say.

Then there are owners who keep the pet without understanding the basics of animal care.

While some new pet owners are learning what to feed Fido, others may be completely forgetting to do so.

"We are seeing a growing tendency for people to ignore basic health needs for their pets," Dr. Scott Ruth, medical director at Animal Foundation, said.

Such was the case last month when a local man was fined $1,115 in Las Vegas Municipal Court for failing to ensure that his small dog was eating.

The family had taken the dog to the Animal Foundation at 700 N. Mojave Road to have it euthanized last summer because it appeared to be in pain.

What officials first noticed was not the dog's outwardly thin appearance. It was that the dog's breed was indiscernible.

The dog, presumed to be a Lhasa apso or Shih Tzu, had not been groomed in so long that shelter officials not only found it difficult to distinguish the animal's limbs but could not tell which end was the animal's head and which was its tail.

Its matted hair was as stiff as a carpet and rendered the dog immobile.

"The situation was the worst I've ever seen and I've handled a number of abuse cases," said George Duel, a Las Vegas deputy city attorney who prosecuted the case. "The dog was so matted it could no longer move. It had maggots in his eyes and was covered in feces."

The owner explained in court that the dog was well loved and had been a companion for 16 years. The owner brought his son to testify that the dog was truly loved.

The owner explained that the dog began to have bladder problems so the family placed it in the back yard.

Ruth said this was in June, when temperatures exceeded 100 degrees. "The dog was probably too weak to even get up and move out of the sun."

"I think there are a lot of people who don't realize (there are) laws that protect animals," Duel said. "He could not understand why we were even involved in it. He just kept saying this was just an animal. He said that several times."

The city attorney's office handles five to 10 animal neglect or abuse cases a month, Duel said, adding that serious animal-abuse cases occur once or twice a month.

Duel has another case in which an owner starved his dog to death. "People just don't realize how seriously others take cruelty to animals," he said. "It's not tolerated."

The Clark County Animal Control Department reported 24 cases of animal abuse and neglect were prosecuted last year. More than 1,300 had been reported.

Las Vegas Animal Control reported 23 cases of animal abuse and neglect were prosecuted in 1999. More than 900 had been reported, Supervisor Roger Van Oordt said.

Matted fur is not a common case, Oordt said. But there are other grooming- related issues. "Probably a more common one is when people put collars on their dog and the dog grows and the collar gets embedded in the flesh.

"You get a variety of people out there who just don't take care of their animals."

Animal abuse or neglect is a misdemeanor. "People are required by law to provide basic care to animals such as food, shelter and medical care."

"A lot of it is common sense," he added. "There's nothing in the law that (says) you have to give attention to your pet. But if you do, it takes care of the other three."

Ruth said he sees grooming-related neglect too often.

When an animal's fur tangles close to the skin, it pulls and tears the skin, causing it to ooze, Ruth said. Dirt will often get into the mats, which causes infection.

In the case of the heavily matted dog, it wasn't until officials at the shelter tried to save the animal that they realized how severe its situation was.

When cutting the hair away from the animal's face, they saw its eyes were infested with maggots. When cutting the hair on the dog's body they found the animal was so emaciated that bones were protruding through the skin.

The dog was euthanized and the Animal Foundation notified the county Animal Control Department, according to Mary Herro, Animal Foundation founder, said. Animal Control then notified the city attorney's office.

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