GlobalShift

The Death of the Miracle Dog

Her name was Oreo, but they called her the miracle dog. The young pit bull mix made headlines when she was hurled off a six-story roof and somehow survived. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals rescued the dog, who was found with shattered legs, bruised lungs and severe internal bleeding. She made a remarkable physical recovery, but four months after she earned her well-deserved nickname, Oreo was euthanized because she was deemed too aggressive to be rehabilitated.

The announcement that she would be euthanized and Oreo’s eventual death caused a strong public backlash. Many individuals and organizations wondered if the ASPCA was unfairly giving up on the dog. APSCA president Ed Sayres said in a statement that the decision to euthanize Oreo was “difficult and heartbreaking,” but some questioned whether more could have been done to save her. The director of Win Animal Rights Camille Hankins said in an email to the ASPCA that they were completing “what the animal abuser who threw her off that Brooklyn rooftop set out to do.”

I can’t say I know if it was right or not to euthanize Oreo, or if she truly was too aggressive to be kept alive. The ASPCA said despite efforts to train her she “continued to lunge, growl, snap and attempt to bite,” and was aggressive towards people, other dogs and even her handler. Clearly, the dog’s circumstances set her towards her unfortunate ending, but particularly after all of the effort that went into saving her life, protesters questioned whether she could have been rehabilitated by Dog Whisperer’s Cesar Milan, or Best Friends Animal Society, that rescued 49 of 50 dogs that were involved in the Michael Vick case.

In my mind, Oreo was doomed from the beginning. Rather than hurl angry accusations of corruption at the ASPCA, people need to realize that abuse, not a lack of trying by her rescuers, is to blame for Oreo’s death. How did such an abusive owner come into possession of a dog? Where did Oreo come from in the first place? Was she the result of accidental breeding or an un-fixed stray?

The frustration over Oreo’s death is warranted, but attention should be focused at the root of the problem. Oreo was sentenced to death long before the ASPCA made the announcement that she would be euthanized. It was her long-term abuse and upbringing that caused her destruction in the end. She was clearly, deeply scarred by her past, and particularly because she was so young, it is very likely that she had faced irreversible emotional damage. “Animal cruelty isn’t pretty and doesn’t always have a happy ending,” Sayres said. “It is ugly and sad and, ultimately, tragic.”

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Photo: NY Times