Cedar Rapids Animal Rescue Treating Two Dogs for Unthinkable Acts

Multiple recent incidents in just the past few weeks of cats being rescued from deplorable conditions make these cases of animal abuse and neglect far too frequent for anyone's comfort. But, sadly, we have yet another case to report.

Meet beautiful Ashland. She is currently in the care of Critter Crusaders of Cedar Rapids. According to their Facebook page, Ashland was SHOT IN THE FACE by, and I quote "some deranged, hateful individual".

After arriving at AHeinz 57 Rescue and Transport, she was evaluated at Blue Pearl Des Moines. Her injuries are extensive and, at minimum, will require a dental surgeon. I haven't even gotten to the most infuriating part. This dog is a mother. She continued to care for her puppies, who are all now whelped, all the while suffering her own painful struggle.

Ashland was missing a portion of her mandible bone, gum tissue, exposed bone, and disruption to her teeth. The mandible is also fractured. Frey Pet Hospital examined Ashland on Tuesday, hopeful to be able to help. The organizations involved also contacted the UW Dept. of Dentistry to attempt to find a spot for Ashland to get care.

As they said on their Facebook page, "she looks perfect from the outside. No animal deserves to be intentionally injured. We will make this horrible wrong, right again."

But wait, there's more. Jan Erceg of Critter Crusaders told me there was an additional dog recently in their care who was also a gunshot victim. Charlie is now out of the hospital after he was shot intentionally, point blank in the neck with a .22 gauge.

the bullet hit his second cervical vertebrae and shattered the spinous processes (the bony wings at the back of your neck). It is amazing that Charlie survived and that he can still walk. The impact did damage his spinal cord though there doesn’t seem to be an intrusion into the cord itself.

Thankfully, Charlie is doing remarkably well, but Jan went on to say their group has seen a disturbing increase in their intake of animals suffering from this particular type of abuse.

Unbelievable.

The amazing work of folks like Critter Crusaders of Cedar Rapids and AHeinz 57 is a miracle on earth. We will post updates on Ashland and Charlie as we receive them, but if you'd like to help Critter Crusaders of Cedar Rapids by offering a donation or helping in any way, find out how to contact them through their website.

You can also continue to visit them on Facebook for updates.