Officers call animal abuse case one of worst

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Terre Haute Code Enforcement Officers found a badly abused dog Monday morning, thanks to a call in from a concerned resident.

"The dog had been abused. They tried to cut the tail off of this female pit bull puppy, and she had a large gash on her head," Code Enforcement Officer Jamie Ennen said.

Across the nation, almost 20,000 animal abuse cases have been reported this year.

Local officers say they've seen an increase in abuse cases within the last couple months.

"This is probably one of the worse cases we've had," Ennen said.

Animal Control took the dog to get immediate attention.

Airport Veterinary Clinic in Terre Haute receives cases from Animal Control at least monthly.

Doctors say officers seem to be cracking down.
 
"It should be a wake-up call when you see images like this on tv, injuries like this, they're not going to take care of themselves, they need some help," Veterinarian Dr. James Holscher said.

News 10 caught up with the little pup at Vigo County Humane Society after surgery.

"We feel like we're seeing more and more human inflicted injuries on these animals and it is against the law," Terre Haute Humane Society Assistant Manager Sheryl Shaver said.

A sad circumstance, serving as one more reminder for everyone, in hopes of reducing the number of abused dogs coming in.

If you have any information about this case, Code Enforcement Officers encourage you to call Crime Stoppers at 238-STOP.

If you witness animal abuse, call Code Enforcement at (812) 238-1661.