{"id":299,"date":"2019-01-07T11:49:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T19:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=999933507"},"modified":"2019-01-07T11:49:02","modified_gmt":"2019-01-07T19:49:02","slug":"abused-dog-chloe-is-doing-great-hundreds-of-other-pets-not-so-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/pets\/abused-dog-chloe-is-doing-great-hundreds-of-other-pets-not-so-much","title":{"rendered":"Abused dog Chloe is doing great; hundreds of other pets, not so much"},"content":{"rendered":"

In December 2018, the Long Beach Post broke a story about an animal-cruelty case that one veterinary assistant said was the \u201cworst case I\u2019d seen in 30 years<\/a>.\u201d Little Chloe, a white terrier with some Maltipoo likely mixed in, was found in a dumpster on Dec. 8, nearly dead and coated in garbage and human urine. Someone pulled her out and brought her to a Fix Long Beach<\/a> volunteer, who rushed her to a veterinary clinic. [Disclosure: I\u2019ve been an active core volunteer with FLB since 2013.]<\/p>\n

Chloe\u2019s story has gone viral on TV, radio and news media, so there\u2019s a good chance that you\u2019re familiar with it. As of this week, the Long Beach Police Department\u2019s Violent Crimes Division is following up on leads, and Chloe is staying with a medical foster. The little dog\u2019s well-wishers have responded with gifts, goodies and cash donations. Some of them even paid off her entire expensive veterinary bills.<\/p>\n

FLB set up a Facebook page, titled Saving Chloe<\/a>, which chronicles her recovery. Innumerable good wishes and inquiries pour in daily as well as posters\u2019 comments about what they want to do to the abuser. For their own sake, it\u2019s hoped that the police catch him or her first.<\/p>\n

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Letters from schoolchildren wishing Chloe well have poured in. Photo courtesy of Fix Long Beach.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are requests upon requests to adopt the dog, and there\u2019s just one Chloe. Or is there? One active member of the animal community posted the following on Chloe\u2019s page:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I do so love to see poor little Chloe being spoiled, please remember that there are tons of dogs (and cats, and bunnies, and other pets) that also need to be saved, loved and spoiled, at shelters all over the world. Chloe has a lot of toys and love\u2014please reach out to your local rescues to see how you can help other animals too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The poster went on to say that she wasn\u2019t begrudging Chloe any of the good things she\u2019s getting, and neither am I. Chloe has brought out not so much a celebrity cult but hundreds of people from the area and across the country and globe who react the way anyone with enough empathy for anyone voiceless and vulnerable would do.<\/p>\n

But most cruelty and neglect cases rarely make it to public attention. When they do, there\u2019s a reaction. In August 2018, a dog was found near death in Los Angeles; rescuers named her Precious Cargo<\/a>. She later died of her injuries at a veterinarian\u2019s office\u2014it later transpired that Precious Cargo had been adopted in Orange County and somehow wound up in downtown L.A. People responded with a huge social-media protest and a physical one at the Orange County shelter.<\/p>\n

A lesser known case concerns a cat who was abused at only a few months old. He\u2019d been badly beaten, and his little head was slammed against a wall, leaving him with what seems to be a permanent facial deformity. He was taken in by Long Beach Animal Care Services<\/a> as an abuse case. Cat rescue Helen Sanders CatPAWS<\/a> stepped up to pay his medical bills, and the cat is now enjoying a safe life with a loving foster. The foster says that the cat doesn\u2019t have a mean bone in his body. Go figure.<\/p>\n

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This poor cat’s facial injuries haven’t stopped him from enjoying his good meals at his foster’s home. Photos courtesy of LBACS and Helen Sanders CatPAWS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chloe is a poster puppy for cruelty in as much as she exemplifies what any helpless creature, animal or human, suffers from deliberate inhumane acts. Last year, there were 27 calls in Long Beach alone and four from Cerritos, one of the cities in LBACS\u2019s jurisdiction. There have been two Long Beach cases reported so far this year, and the month isn\u2019t over. Shelter Manager Ted Stevens said that every case is investigated, and although some are unfounded or relatively minor, others are serious and are referred to the L.A. County District Attorney or Long Beach\u2019s city prosecutor for prosecution, with LBACS\u2019s assistance.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the connection between animal cruelty and violence to humans have been so closely linked that they\u2019re inarguable. One study<\/a> reported that 60 percent of domestic violence offenders had also abused animals at some point and that 70 percent of violent offenders in federal prisons had seriously abused animals in the past. Statistics like these, not to mention prodding from animal advocates, led the FBI in 2016 to classify animal abuse as a felony.<\/p>\n

As for us animal advocates, it\u2019s enough that an animal is deliberately maimed or killed by someone who gets jollies from hurting the helpless. That goes for helpless humans, too\u2014no life is worth more or less than any other (except perhaps fleas, ticks and mosquitoes\u2014there\u2019s always a line). But animals don\u2019t have a voice, and if they did, their words would shatter hearts everywhere.<\/p>\n

Solomon would likely have retreated to the throne room if he\u2019d had to deal with as many claims to the baby of biblical lore as there are numbers of sincere offers to adopt Chloe. Everyone can\u2019t have her. Fix Long Beach hopes that people who sincerely want to give her a home would channel their compassion and openheartedness to other pets who so need and would welcome it.<\/p>\n

In this spirit, the Saving Chloe page intersperses its reports on Chloe\u2019s progress and that of the investigation with photos and bios of other unfortunate pets who need homes. FLB doesn\u2019t need to look far\u2013besides their own fosters, there are pets in shelters and rescues everywhere. Friday\u2019s adoption column<\/a> featured Sparky and the Gang\u2019s rescue of 72 dogs in a hoarding situation, and I just got word of one more.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Saving Chloe page will post a date when applications will be accepted. Chloe\u2019s spirit hasn\u2019t been broken, but it, along with her body, has been damaged. She needs time, and she has that luxury now. Other animals don\u2019t. Please wish Chloe well every day, and adopt another pet in her name.<\/p>\n

Anyone who may have information regarding this crime should contact the Long Beach Police Department Violent Crimes Detail at (562) 570-7250. Anonymous tips may be submitted through LA Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), downloading the \u201cP3 Tips\u201d app to your smart phone (available at the Apple App store and Google Play), or visiting\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>www.lacrimestoppers.org<\/strong><\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chloe\u2019s spirit hasn\u2019t been broken, but it, along with her body, has been damaged. She needs time, and she has that luxury now. Other animals don\u2019t. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":65826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pets","tag-pet-post","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=299"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}