(WSVN) - A man grabbed their poodle as he backed up to the front door, then ripped teeth out of his mouth. Was it a stranger? A county employee? How do they find out? It’s time to call in Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
The Mendozas walked into the Humane Society looking for a dog.
Luis Mendoza, family dog injured: “And she saw Snoopy, and right away she fell in love and she said, ‘That’s the one.'”
They walked out not only with a dog, but a new family member.
Luis Mendoza: “He’s like another brother, sister to everybody in the house. He’s just part of the family.”
They rescued Snoopy years ago, and then had to rescue him again.
Luis Mendoza: “This day, she decided to take him on the front lawn. He was doing his business. Between him doing his business, my sister came inside.”
Take a look at their surveillance cameras to see what happened next.
Luis Mendoza: “Clearly in the video, you can tell the gentleman is the aggressor towards the dog.”
After Luis’ sister walked inside, Snoopy finished going to the bathroom and ran to the front door, backing up and barking as a man approaches him. Once Snoopy is cornered, the man sets up what’s called a catch pole.
Luis Mendoza: “Grab him by the neck and they hooked on to his top jaw. They move to left to right. The dog is 10 years old. He is not a puppy anymore.”
The video shows Luis’ sister running as she hears the dog screaming.
Luis Mendoza: “She opens the door right away and sees the guy and says, ‘What are you doing?’ He automatically let go of the dog, and the dog ran in right away.”
But the damage from the noose had been done.
Luis Mendoza: “I guess the force was too much, and literally popped his top jaw with his teeth out. And the dog was in excruciating pain, bleeding.”
The man with the catch pole disappeared. Snoopy was rushed to the vet for surgery.
Luis Mendoza: “I almost started to cry because I felt his pain. He was just barking and crying and screaming, and of course, it was all pain.”
The bill for the surgery was $2,400. The Mendozas want this man to pay it, whether he is a stranger grabbing dogs or a Broward County employee rounding up animals.
Luis Mendoza: “I want to find out who did this to my dog.
Well, Howard, is the person who did this responsible for the vet bill, even if it was from Broward Animal Services?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “Whoever did this is responsible for that vet bill, whether it’s a stranger trying to steal a dog or a county employee trying to capture the animal. In this case, it’s negligence, and they injured the animal.”
We then started trying to identify this man who tried to capture Snoopy. We didn’t think it was a Broward County Animal Care employee, but we sent them the video just in case — and it turns out it was one of their employees.
The county spokesperson couldn’t tell us if the employee was reprimanded or fired, but did say, “We will be retraining staff specific to the use of field services equipment.”
Regarding the $3,000 vet bill, we were told, “They have opened a case claim with the county’s risk management division with the intent to make the family whole.”
In other words, the county will pay the vet bill.
And, Howard says, injuring the dog wasn’t the only mistake the county employee made.
Howard Finkelstein: “That dog was not at large, he was on his owner’s property. In fact, he was on the porch, and in Broward County, the employee had no right to touch that dog.”
Luis Mendoza: “He’s doing great. He is missing three teeth, but he’s doing all right. He can eat right, thank God.”
Snoopy is healthy, and after their call to Help Me Howard, the Mendozas are happy.
Luis Mendoza: “You made it happen. If it wasn’t for the investigation you did, we would have never really known who treated the dog incorrectly.”
It’s a good thing that the Mendozas had that surveillance video. Without it, it would have been hard to figure out who did that to their dog. And it made it clear to Broward County that one of their employees was responsible for the injuries. I sound like a salesperson for home surveillance cameras. Anyway, we will let you know when the county reimburses the Mendoza’s for the vet bill.
Got a problem dogging you? Ready to be rescued? Contact us. Our bark isn’t bad and we don’t bite. We just try to snare a solution for you.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
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