Wounded Dog Rescued From Dumpster

NWITimes.com
March 22, 2005 by Joyce Russell

PORTAGE: Animal might have been used as bait in dogfights

PORTAGE -- For five days, Simon lay in the bottom of a Dumpster, near death.

The pit bull was apparently thrown into the trash bin near the Portage Little League field off Central Avenue to die. A gaping wound in his head and multiple lacerations and bite marks riddle his body.

Officials aren't sure, but they think Simon might have been used as bait in a dogfight, been beaten and then tossed out when he was no longer of use.

They're looking for information from anyone who may have seen the white and tan male dog tossed away. Whoever beat and discarded the dog could face animal cruelty charges.

Portage Animal Control Officer Pat Parish said Master Patrolman Troy Rose called her about 11 a.m. Sunday because a man cleaning up around the baseball fields had reported hearing something in the Dumpster.

Parish and Rose rigged a sling to lift the severely injured and dehydrated animal out of the trash bin.

Parish called Jane Hullsiek, founder of the Humane Society of the Dunes and a part-time employee at Westchester Animal Clinic.

Hullsiek gave Simon his name -- after a cat that had been abused and rescued and lived 19 more years. She took him to the clinic and treated him. Monday morning Dr. Laurence Reed performed surgery, closing up the worst wound, which was so deep she could see his skull, and stitching other minor wounds.

Hullsiek said Reed's theory is that Simon was wounded about a week ago and was in the Dumpster for five days.

"It is amazing he's still here," said Hullsiek, who has been in animal rescue for 25 years.

She said Simon's condition was the worst she's seen, but she expects him to survive and is hoping to find him a home when he's healed.

She said his teeth are so badly broken, he'll need additional surgery. His left eye was injured, either from a burn or another type of injury, and he will most likely lose sight in that eye.

At 52 pounds, she said Simon was "skin and bones." He gobbled up two cans of food, some chicken and four cups of dry food within six hours after his rescue.

"This was a deliberate act. He wasn't somebody's pet. He had been abused for a while," she said.

Parish said officials have no reports of dogfights in the city or immediate area and think someone from outside the city left Simon in the Dumpster, which is in a secluded location.