IDA Offers $2,000 Reward In Dog Cruelty Case

Warren County, Tenn. (August 14, 2012) – In Defense of Animals (IDA), the international animal protection organization that operates Hope Animal Sanctuary in Mississippi, has added $2,000 to a reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whomever beat a dog and shot her through the mouth, leaving her for dead in Warren County, Tennessee. This brings the total reward to $7,000.

On August 8, Warren County Humane Society Cruelty Investigator Clay Lerch responded to an injured dog call. A kind family had been feeding and caring for a stray dog for weeks. The dog, who the family named Corona, showed up bleeding from the mouth, nose, and eyes. Investigator Lerch believed that Corona had been shot but could find no entry wound.

Corona was taken to Dr. Gayle Tate, who first believed that the dog had been struck with a board or bat across the face. During surgery, Dr. Tate became concerned about the deep wound on Corona's tongue. An x-ray showed bullet fragments in her throat and stomach. Someone had placed a gun in her mouth and pulled the trigger.

“What is so sad is that I imagine that this wonderful and friendly girl probably sat wagging her tail and this coward put the gun in her mouth and shot her and then hit her across the nose,” Lerch said on the Humane Society website. “It takes a truly callous and immoral person to do this.”

“The cold-bloodedness of this crime indicates what a danger this abuser is to all of us,” noted Jack Carone, Communications Director for IDA. “Someone knows who did this, and will be doing a service to everyone by stepping forward.” Carone added that FBI and other law enforcement agencies agree that a person who commits cruelty to animals “is probably just warming up,” a reference to studies showing that unpunished violence to animals usually leads to violence directed at people.

Corona has undergone surgeries to remove the bullet fragments and repair the damage. She will likely need more surgeries and has a long road to recovery ahead of her.

IDA urges anyone with information about this brutal attack to contact the Warren County Humane Society at 931-743-0164. To contribute to the reward fund, please call IDA at (415) 448-0048, ext.0.