Eine Kleine Kennel

You may think it strange that a Poodle breeder would turn her attention to a Pit Bull. But this is not about a breed. It is about animal abuse.

Cargo was a 5-year old female pit bull turned over to an animal shelter in Los Angeles. The City of Angels. Imagine that. She was adopted and that was all anyone knew until she turned up in an alley two weeks later, unable to move, lying on the streets, dying slowly. What was done to this dog defies belief. She was raped. Yes, raped. She was beaten or hit or kicked so hard that her aorta ruptured. Then she was dumped in an alley and left to die. I have seen the video and I can't stop crying. The woman who answered a neighbor's call for help bent over Cargo to touch her gently and reassure her. Cargo could not move, but her eyes flinched as if expecting another round of cruelty. She died in the shelter, surrounded by people trying to help her and crying in anguish.

And maybe that is where this story will end. 

But I hope that it doesn't. The men who did this to Cargo need to be found and brought to justice. Our laws do not permit them to suffer a just fate, but they need to be found anyway. Not only are they depraved and indifferent to suffering, but torturing animals gets old fast and humans are next on the list. The link between animal cruelty and child cruelty and animal cruelty and serial killing has been established. It is all about power over a living being that cannot defend itself, and inflicting maximum suffering for the joy of it. As we see, death was not the end goal, it was the suffering that was the end in itself. We will not even explore the disgusting bestiality issue.

The person who adopted Cargo and then permitted her to be tortured in this unimaginable way needs to be punished. He or she will never be permitted to adopt from this particular shelter again, but so what? There are hundreds of other shelters who don't know about him/her.

And anyone who owns a dog needs to take responsibility for that living creature more seriously. I will always take my puppies back for any reason or no reason. Every good breeder will say the same. 

Goodbye, Cargo. You are romping with the real angels now, and we are left here with tears and regrets.