Momma Dog’s owner pushing for tougher animal cruelty penalties
A week has passed since Momma dog reportedly hobbled back to her Ooltewah home in serious condition. Now that she’s out of the hospital and making what appears to be a full recovery, the effort to find the person who attacked her has intensified. A focus on tougher animal cruelty laws has also intensified.
"Justice for Momma Dog" website is an online effort to find the person who attacked an 8-year old therapy animal named Momma Dog.
Authorities have confirmed the dog was shot, but are now trying to confirm the cause of another injury located on the back of her leg. The injury appears to be some type of deep puncture wound.
According to the animal’s owner, Momma Dog was attacked after she got off her leash and ran away. Momma Dog returned home 20-minutes later covered in blood.
Her story has generated a lot of sympathy from people who are wanting to help. Some have offered to donate money as a reward for information leading to an arrest. Momma Dog’s Owner, Katherine Zwitter has opened a Go Fund Me Account.
"The goal is to raise enough money for a reward for someone to come forward. If no one comes forward about this, all money will go to hopefully change the laws and the systems we have in place and penalties on animal abuse," Zwitter said.
If the person responsible for seriously injuring Momma dog is captured, that person would likely face an aggravated animal cruelty charge. But it’s only a Class E felony which means an offender is least likely to serve a significant amount of prison time let alone actually go to prison.
"It doesn’t send a message that we need to send. It needs to be hard. It needs to be tough. They need to understand that if they commit this type of crime, they’re going to be held accountable and responsible. We need to toughen the laws," said Humane Educational Society Executive Director Bob Citrullo.
"I absolutely hate that whoever did this is going to walk away, even if they are caught. To me it’s absolutely disgusting and outrageous that someone can do this," said Zwitter.
On social media, many people have asked what kind of person would go as far as to purposely attack a small therapy dog with a gun. For that answer, News 12 turned to Don Hanson; a former law enforcement profiler turned licensed clinical social worker for News Beginnings Counseling Center.
"It shows the person probably has some types of anti-social personality traits. They get pleasure from breaking the laws, hurting and taking the rights of other persons including animals in this case," Hanson said.
In the meantime, the Humane Educational Society of Hamilton County continues to investigate the case but acknowledges the difficulty in making an arrest or getting a conviction without a witness.
"We hope someone out there saw something or heard something. We need you to come forward. Call the Humane Society and let us know," Citrullo said.
If anyone has information about the attack, they’re asked to contact the Humane Educational Society at 423-624-5302.
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