Stray Rescue of St. Louis
With rampant, unchecked animal abuse occurring on a daily basis, Saint Louis
City has a dark cloud hanging over it that largely remains a secret to the rest
of the nation. In a state notorious for puppy mills and lax animal abuse laws,
St. Louis continues to stand out among other major metropolitan cities for their
unwillingness to dedicate any resources of consequence to combat the rising
animal abuse epidemic that plagues the area. Stray Rescue of St. Louis, a
companion animal rescue and shelter nonprofit that has been featured on networks
like CNN, National Geographic and Animal Planet, arrived at a vacant city house
littered with gang graffiti on Tuesday, May 15 to find five dogs savagely
tortured and killed.
"I have seen a lot of horrific abuse in the
decades I have been rescuing dogs, but I haven't seen anything this barbaric,"
said Randy Grim, Founder of Stray Rescue. "It was like a scene from the most
shocking horror film, and it will stay with me forever. These dogs truly went
through hell."
In the house, rescuers found chains and electrical cords
used to restrain and strangle dogs. They found skeletal remains of a dog that
had been choked to death, and a trail of dried blood that led to an area where a
dog was burned - more than likely alive. Furniture was stacked upon more
furniture over the body of another dog that had also been strangled with a cable
cord.
The lifeless body of a dog seen through an upstairs window was
draped over the windowsill. X-rays, taken by Stray Rescue's veterinary staff as
part of a necropsy report, revealed severe trauma to the larynx. The vet staff
believes that this was caused by the abusers positioning the dog on the
windowsill and slamming the window down upon him repeatedly, crushing his larynx
and killing him. One witness in the area, who wishes to remain anonymous because
they are afraid of the gang who committed the abuse, reported a sixth dog who
was lynched, having been hung out of a window. This dog has not been
recovered.
"It's terrifying to know that people who are capable of such
abuse are running free in our neighborhoods right this moment, and it's chilling
to not know who their next victim will be," said Grim. "Stray Rescue is offering
a $5,000 reward to anyone who comes forward with information that leads to the
conviction of these abusers."
The correlation between animal abuse and
violent crime is well documented, and Stray Rescue has been building abuse cases
for the city's Circuit Attorney's Office for prosecution. The police have been
largely unsympathetic to the situation and unresponsive to assisting in the
arrests of these dangerous criminals. In fact, St. Louis is one of the few major
cities with no dedicated police officers assigned to such cases, and city
officials rely heavily on the nonprofit to humanely remove dogs from the
streets. In July of 2011, Agent Richie Raheb of the ASPCA's Humane Law
Enforcement Division and star of Animal Planet's "Animal Precinct" accompanied
Grim for a day of rescuing and promptly stated that the areas in St. Louis "were
the worst he had ever scene."
Stray Rescue deals with abuse cases in the
city daily and is currently working to build a comprehensive case in order to
seek arrest for the individual(s) who committed these gruesome crimes.
To honor the deceased dogs that likely never knew anything but terror,
Stray Rescue gave them names before having their remains cremated together:
Brandy, Schnapps, Frangelico, Grand Marnier, and B&B.
People can help
by reading about this abuse story online and then contacting St. Louis Mayor's
Office, the Police Chief Isom, and other St. Louis Officials and express their
outrage at this horrific abuse.
About Stray Rescue of St. Louis
Stray
Rescue's mission is to lead the way towards making St. Louis a compassionate
city where every companion animal knows health, comfort, and affection, and no
stray is euthanized merely because he or she has been abandoned, abused, or
neglected. As part of our mission, Stray Rescue is out on the streets daily
taking a progressive, proactive approach to establishing a permanent resolution
to the stray companion animal problem through dedicated rescue efforts,
sheltering, community outreach programs, education, collaborations, and the
encouragement of responsible pet guardianship.
