EUGENE, Ore. — An animal lover broke into the yard of a Eugene home last week to rescue a dog that appeared to be in acute distress, after warning city officials about the animal’s condition.
Now, city officials are investigating the dog’s owner for animal neglect — and the woman who took the dog for theft.
The case poses a thorny question: Was the woman rescuing — or stealing — the thin, sick dog? It’s in dispute whether the dog’s poor condition was a result of owner neglect, or was inevitable given the dog’s illnesses.
The dog, named Zena but renamed Hope by those involved after she was taken from a home on Hope Loop, was in critical condition and malnourished, according to the “Justice for Hope” Facebook page, when Gail Kiefer Coats entered the yard Friday and took the dog.
The dog had been living in a backyard without food or water, online accounts of the incident allege. From the fenceline, Coats could see the animal’s condition. The day Coats came in and took Hope, the dog could not stand or walk on its own, according to Tamara Barnes who helped with Hope’s immediate care following the dog’s rescue.
Over the weekend, the dog was treated with the help of A New Life, a community donation fund set up at the Four Corners Veterinary Clinic in Eugene to help care for animals in need. Barnes then took Hope and cared for her around the clock, she said, feeding the dog five times per day. It took three days for the dog to pass any of the food, Barnes said, a sign she had not been fed.
But after the dog’s owner on Sunday reported the animal stolen, Eugene police came and took the dog from Barnes. Spokeswoman Melinda McLaughlin on Tuesday said the dog has been euthanized by the owner.
“This is a difficult case to investigate as it involves people with good intentions who felt they were doing the right thing, but did not have all of the information,” McLaughlin said. “The pet owner was faced with difficult end-of-life decisions for his pet of 17 years.”
McLaughlin said after police received the theft report, they had taken the dog to an emergency veterinarian, who said the dog was 17, and diagnosed her with cardiac disease and a heart murmur. Cardiac disease can cause chronic wasting.
“According to the emergency veterinarian, who last checked the dog, she was in relatively good condition, despite her age, blindness and heart disease,” McLaughlin said.
The city’s animal control officer had received a complaint about the dog’s situation Feb. 3, city employee Cindy Clarke from the city manager’s office said in an email Tuesday. The report was that a young dog was possibly the victim of neglect.
McLaughlin said an animal control officer went to the home five times between Feb. 8 and Feb. 18 but were unable to contact the owners.
“They were unable to see the dog,” McLaughlin said. “Police officers and animal welfare officers are not legally permitted to enter private premises without probable cause, consent or a warrant.”
During the Feb. 15 visit, the animal welfare officer asked roofers nearby to see if they could spot the dog in the backyard but they were unable to see the dog, Clarke said.
On Feb. 20, Coats went in the yard and took the dog.
Coats initially brought Hope to the First Avenue Shelter, a shelter for homeless pets run by the Greenhill Humane Society that provides medical attention to animals in need, but was refused. According to Clarke, she was refused because the shelter cannot take animals “under those types of circumstances.” McLaughlin said the shelter cannot take animals that have been removed without their owner’s permission.
Coats then went to Barnes, a member of No Kill Lane County. Barnes directed her to the emergency fund at Four Corners Veterinary Clinic. The fund was used to pay for Hope’s care. According to the veterinarian’s report from that visit, Hope was a 10-year-old mixed breed dog that weighed in at a low 27 pounds. Photos show the dog to be of medium height. The dog is suffering from a tumor, blindness, dehydration, emaciation, a heart murmur and moderate periodontal disease, the report said.
Sunday, the dog’s owner reported the dog stolen, McLaughlin said, and a police officer tracked down the dog and took it from Barnes to the emergency vet.
McLaughlin announced Tuesday that the dog had been euthanized.
“An investigation showed the owner had Zena on a healthy diet to try to put weight on and kept her mostly inside the house,” McLaughlin said. “The owner has had Zena since she was a puppy. He told police that over the past year, she has lost a significant amount of weight but that she still seemed happy. Yesterday, the owner made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize his well-loved pet.”
McLaughlin also added that the owner had been out of town, which may account for the animal officer’s inability to contact him. A dogsitter had been left in charge of the animal, McLaughlin said.
Clarke confirmed animal welfare and Eugene police were investigating two aspects — neglect and theft.
“The age of the dog is irrelevant,” Barnes said. “She was starved and severely dehydrated. Someone had to act to save her. It’s a shame that the organizations paid with our tax dollars to help animals failed this dog.”
Barnes also noted that in Lane County, animal neglect is not a crime, but rather treated as a code violation — something she would like to see changed.
Calls to Zena’s owners were not immediately returned.
