A pit bull named Caitlyn nearly lost her life because of
the cruelty of one man, who has since been arrested for tightly taping her
snout shut. Now she is getting tons of
love and care, and is healing very well.
A 15-month-old chocolate pit bull mix was found on the
porch of a South Carolina resident who called 911 after seeing what horrible
shape she was in.
“I have a dog that’s here at my house that I found and the
dog’s mouth is taped shut with electrical tape, tongue hanging out its mouth,
bleeding, and his tongue is completely black,” a 911 caller said, according to
ABC affiliate WCIV. “I just don’t know what to do.”
She was taken to Charleston Animal Society, who got her
immediate medical attention. The blood
flow had been completely cut off from her tongue, making the situation quite
delicate.
“To leave this dog in pain, unable to eat or drink, and to
now leave her in the position where her life is at stake because she may lose her
tongue is heartbreaking,” said Aldwin Roman of the CAS.
Her story was posted on their Facebook page, and people
began sharing it with the hashtag #Justice4Caitlyn in an effort to find her
abuser. On Monday, North Charleston
police arrested William Leonard Dodson on the felony charge of animal
torture. Bail was set at $50,000.
“I don’t think $50,000 really matched the pain and
suffering Caitlyn has had to go through,” Roman said after the hearing,
according to the Post and Courier. “She is healing, but the damage has been
done.”
Another dog was removed from his home, and court records
state that Dodson “can not have [possession] of any animals.”
Caitlyn’s previous owner told WCIV that he sold her to a
stranger for $10 on Memorial Day because she was tearing up his house and he
worried that he might be evicted.
“Don’t let me find you, that’s all I can say,” the man said
about his former dog’s abuse. “Because that’s part of my family that you just
did some foul things to.”
However, an affidavit released during Dodson’s bond
hearing, “paints a slightly different picture of what happened to Caitlyn, who
had previously been named Diamond.”
Dodson is reported to have bought the dog for $20, but
returned the next night to tell her former owner that he had taped her mouth
shut because she wouldn’t stop barking.
The anonymous prior owner said the man laughed when he told him that.
The affidavit stated that the owner “had known Dodson for a
least a year and said he is ‘like a brother.’”
Dodson faces up to five years in prison and a fine of
$5,000 because he caused “excessive and unnecessary pain and suffering.”
Caitlyn, meanwhile, is recovering better than caregivers
might have expected. She is being
treated at Veterinary Specialty Care in Mount Pleasant.
“This was intentional, someone was trying to hurt her,”
said Dr. Kelli Kline. “They did it — they did what they went out to do. I am
very, very surprised that she’s healing at this rate.”
She will be receiving cold laser therapy to encourage
healing in her tongue, and just today she underwent surgery to have her lips
and cheek fixed. She is reportedly doing
well, and will be eating and drinking on her own soon.
If you would like to donate toward Caitlyn’s care, please
click HERE. To follow her progress, click HERE.
To read the previous stories on Caitlyn, click here: William Leonard Dodson Has Been Arrested in the Animal Cruelty Case of Caitlyn the Dog That Was Found with Electrical Tape Tightly Wound Around Her Muzzle
