Emergency eAlert

9 dogs are confiscated from South Central LA

Acting on a tip, ACI sent a Humane Officer and Cruelty Investigator out to South Central LA Tuesday to check on dogs reported to be living in poor conditions. Unfortunately, poor conditions don't come close to describing what was found. We found 3 adult Chihuahua mixes and 6 puppies living in tiny, cramped cages along the side of a heavily-used driveway, just a couple feet from passing cars. None of the dogs had access to food or water, and their cages were completely covered with sheets and blankets, making their cramped living conditions even more unbearable due to lack of ventilation, fresh air and light. ACI immediately confiscated all 9 dogs and took them to a veterinary office, where they are all currently being examined and tested.

All the dogs were dehydrated and infested with ticks and fleas. All 3 adult dogs are under 2 years old. The male dog was caged by himself. Mama #1 was caged with her two puppies, which are approximately 6-8 weeks old. She is underweight and has a severe rash on her stomach. Mama # 2 was caged with her 4 nearly-newborn puppies, estimated to be just 10 days old! She is also underweight. Clearly neither of the female dogs was receiving enough food to support them while nursing, and the vet was convinced they'd all be in much worse shape if not for their young age and resilience.

We are waiting for the results of the blood work to come back – and assuming none of them have any contagious diseases, we will need foster homes immediately for all of them. Especially Mama #2 and her newborn pups – the longer they remain at the vet, the higher their chances of contracting something from other canine patients. If you are able to foster any of these dogs – please contact us immediately!

ACI is committed to restoring these dogs' health and finding them all permanent homes. In the meantime, the vet and boarding bills are mounting – and we urgently need help paying for this! If you are able to contribute to their care – you can donate on our website – www.acinvestigations.org (ACI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible).

And last but not least, during the investigation – a stray dog was spotted darting into traffic. Seems he knows a good thing when he sees it, and fortunately ACI was also able to rescue this lucky little guy before he was hit by a car! He is a young red male Chihuahua mix – about 12-15lbs. He's been neutered and vaccinated and it seems he's been a victim of abuse as well. He has what appears to be a pellet from a bb gun in his neck area and will have some teeth removed from the same side of his jaw due to trauma. He will be up for adoption next week – if you are interested in fostering or adopting him, please let us know.

We'd like to remind everyone the importance of sending tips like this to ACI first – before calling friends, sending emails, posting on Facebook, etc. Once people guilty of animal abuse/neglect know they are on animal lovers' radars – they often temporarily fix the situation, or worse yet, move the animals inside, which limits our ability to immediately act on the situation.

Please share with your friends by forwarding this email and sharing on your social networking sites. Thanks for your support!

Animal Cruelty Investigations
www.acinvestigations.org