Jan 12, 2009: Hobo

[xoxoxoBruce]

Hobo is a dog, a German Shepherd his owner Joy Battison starved and neglected until he was near death.

Joy Battison starved Hobo to the point where his weight plummeted to 40lbs. Covered in mange, suffering from severe malnutrition and with claws so long he couldn't walk Hobo was given just three days to live.
But Hobo has fought back and the 12-year-old now faces the new year with a spring in his paws happy in his new home with animal-lover owners Peter and Val Butcher.

He's not only living with Peter and Val Butcher, he's also living with "an array of other animals including ten dogs, ten alpacas, seven goats, 17 ponies, and 240 parrots".
A happy ending... but although he looks pretty healthy, look at his eyes.
He has a look like he's been a POW, or through a concentration camp... traumatized.

Ms Battison?

Yesterday 56-year-old Battison was banned from owning another animal for 25 years and was also given a 12-month supervision order.

Alas, no kick in the...

link

[DucksNuts]

Thats f@#$ed up.

They should put that biatch in a box and starve her to near death.

The other pic shows him much happy and not as scared looking. I wish him well

[DanaC]

How can anybody do that? How can anybody look at that dog and not help him? Every day she must have seen him. Seen the state he was in. Had she forgotten he was still her little pup? Had she forgotten that he looked to her above all else?

Fucking bitch.

[capnhowdy]

I had to fight the tears on this one.

I am at a loss for words.

God bless Butcher. God damn Battison.

[TheMercenary]

I agree with Ducks. Put her in a box.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Fucking bitch.

Fucking Bitch to the ninth circle of hell with her. Seems to me she got a slap on the wrist for her cruelty. She should be stripped, sprayed with scalding water and tased on a daily basis. Then spit on.

[classicman]

She can share a cell with Vick - they deserve each other.
Effin A**holes.

[sweetwater]

It takes special people to reach an animal in such a depressed, sickly condition and return them to mental and physical health - bless the Butchers and all like them who invest so much in these creatures. I've seen other dogs brought back from similar conditions and lead normal lives (one, a borzoi, moved onto an Arabian horse farm with other borzois and went for an lovely romp w/horse, owner, and dog friends every day - sweet life for him!), and it really annoys me that the animal's recovery is often longer than the former owner's punishment.

[SquidGirl]

Seriously, why have a pet/animal if you are going to treat it like shit. I don't get it. I have two cats and every time my daughter pulls them off the couch it bothers me...I understand some people get a control trip out of those types of things...but why? Why not just give the dog away? I will admit, banning the person from owning another animal is awesome! I never knew the gov't really did that. I knew they would remove neglected animals, but banning people - - - just thinking about it....they should start doing that with parents who abuse/neglect their children, too! We should also consider putting them in a cage and poking them

[Pie]

If you can't keep the dog, find it a good home. Or pay what's required to get it into a no-kill shelter.

Absolute worse comes to worst, and there is NO OTHER OPTION, you put the dog down humanely.

You don't starve it to death.
I hope this woman is shunned by society for years to come. She can die slowly knowing the world has judged her to be a monster.

[Hillrick]

I once had an animal control officer tell me that some people shouldn't be allowed to keep stuffed toy animals. This is one thing I've stolen for. A neighbor had a white lab, about a year old and didn't care well for her. I would put food and water in the yard for her sometimes. When summer came I saw she was grey from fly specks and had two chewed on spots. She was also thin. I was only going to take her to my business and clean her up but when I saw how bad she was, I couldn't take her back.
with some food and attention she looked beautiful very quickly. I called a lab rescue organization and told them I found her and ran an ad for two weeks looking for the owner. They found a good home for her. My neighbor asked if I saw someone take her but of course I told him I didn't. Even though she chewed up some stuff here in the shop I am glad I did what I did.

[JLrep]

This is terrible. I just recently got a young Shepherd/Collie mix that looks similar to the second picture of the dog, and seeing this makes me want to drive home and hug him.

Though I never fail to find it interesting that such stories always garner far stronger responses than do stories of abused humans.

[Diaphone Jim]

This is the hardest IOTD to look at in a long time. After the first glance, I have been careful to scroll down before it opens. His recovery is just great.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by Hillrick

I once had an animal control officer tell me that some people shouldn't be allowed to keep stuffed toy animals. This is one thing I've stolen for. A neighbor had a white lab, about a year old and didn't care well for her. I would put food and water in the yard for her sometimes. When summer came I saw she was grey from fly specks and had two chewed on spots. She was also thin. I was only going to take her to my business and clean her up but when I saw how bad she was, I couldn't take her back.
with some food and attention she looked beautiful very quickly. I called a lab rescue organization and told them I found her and ran an ad for two weeks looking for the owner. They found a good home for her. My neighbor asked if I saw someone take her but of course I told him I didn't. Even though she chewed up some stuff here in the shop I am glad I did what I did.

In case no one told you: YOU are a hero for that.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by JLrep

Though I never fail to find it interesting that such stories always garner far stronger responses than do stories of abused humans.

I've thought about this a lot. I DO have strong responses to stories about abused humans, esp. young humans. The only reason I get so wrecked about animals is that they are so completely innocent...yea, babies are, too...I don't know. What is the answer?