'Brutalised' dog found with horrific scars four years after going missing
A 'brutalised' bull terrier has been found with horrific injuries believed to have been caused in illegal dog fights – four years after going missing from its home.
The RSPCA has launched an investigation after the Staffie was discovered on the Sandwell-Handsworth border by a member of the public. The dog's condition shocked staff at the charity.
The animal, named Zeena, had extensive bite wounds, both old and new, all over her body that were consistent with dog-fighting, including a large fresh bite mark on her neck. She also had a punctured eye and a wound on her back leg that had gone through to the bone.
She was found on The Leverretts, a residential estate off Oxhill Road, on December 28 by a passer-by who contacted the RSPCA.
The dog, who was microchipped, is currently being treated at the charity's Birmingham Animal Hospital but is still very ill.
Inspector Mike Scargill traced her previous owner, whose details were on the microchip, and visited them.
"They were very shocked and upset. Zeena had run off about four years previously and had not returned," he said.
"She was found a significant distance from her last registered home, and the surmise is that she was found by an unscrupulous person and brutalised horrifically.
“It is heartbreaking to think what she went through but thankfully she has now been rescued from cruelty. We are hoping very much that she will pull through this.”
Inspector Scargill described the dog, who has undergone extensive treatment at the hospital, as 'incredibly nervous, particularly of men, vulnerable and submissive.'
And he appealed to anyone who had information about Zeena or her whereabouts while she was missing.
He said:"It is clear that she has been subject to the most horrific and frightening treatment, and any information pertaining to who may possibly have done this to her will be treated with the utmost discretion and acted upon accordingly.
“Although dog fighting was banned in 1835, it still has a dedicated following among certain depraved and cowardly sections of society, and it is only through information from the public who are willing to stand up against this abhorrent practice that we can follow up and prosecute them to the full extent of the law.”
