DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) - An animal welfare group came to the rescue of a young pit bull after concerned residents in a Miami neighborhood found him neglected and in poor health, Friday morning.
Cellphone video captured Miami-Dade Animal Services coming to take away Brock after he was found dangerously close to death.
“It’s heartbreaking. It kills me,” said Brendan Lausell with Saving Sage Animal Rescue Foundation.
Lausell said the young canine was in very bad shape.
“He was frail, he was scared, fragile,” he said. “It was a pit bull, so you would expect a pit bull would have been a little more aggressive, big muscle, but nothing. It was bones.”
City of Miami Police arrived at the home, located near Northwest 55th Court and Third Avenue.
Video posted on social media shows Brock, cooped up outside in the hot sun, with no food or water in sight, surrounded by filth.
“This is un-[expletive]-believable. No. No, no, no, no,” a woman is heard saying in the video.
The footage shows the dog’s bones clearly visible through his skin.
“The dog is severely emaciated. You can see all of the ribs,” said Regina Vlasek, also with Saving Sage.
Fortunately, someone saw the dog in distress, and took action, tipping off Saving Sage.
The animal welfare group in turn called police.
“A dog tied up or left in a backyard doesn’t have the ability to ask for help, so they depend on us and on good Samaritans to get involved and do something,” said.
After a couple of hours, animal control officials went in to take temporary custody of Brock.
Saving Sage said they looked up his rabies tag, and it shows he was adopted last year.
A photo shows the canine in much better health in February of 2017.
“Somebody needs to be held accountable,” said Vlasek.
As for the owner, no one was home all day, and animal control left a notice on the door.
7News tried calling the number on Brock’s collar tag, but no one picked up.
Meanwhile, the ailing pit bull was taken to be checked out by a vet with Miami-Dade Animal Services. The county will then go to court so they can find him a new home.
It remains unclear whether Brock will have any long-lasting health problems, but for the animal lovers turned guardian angels who came to his aid, he’s already a step ahead on his road to recovery.
“For you to live here and know that this dog is in your backyard and in these horrible conditions, I don’t know how you could live with yourself,” said Lausell. “It’s horrible.”
Depending on the assessment from the vet who is treating Brock, his owner could face criminal charges.
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