Officials: Rock Hill puppy abuse case puts spotlight on importance of adoption

After hundreds of people expressed interest in adopting Brody, the puppy who was shot nearly 20 times with a BB gun last week, local animal rescue officials say they are thrilled the case received so much attention – but that many abused and neglected animals still need help.

Brody, a 6-week-old Lab mix, was found at a Rock Hill apartment complex by a utility worker last Sunday, bleeding heavily from 18 BB gunshots. The animal hospital that treated Brody and the agency that handled his adoption said they received hundreds of calls and messages from people interested in adopting the puppy, wh went to live at his new permanent home over the weekend.

“It’s very overwhelming but positive because it brings light to an issue a lot of animal lovers are glad is receiving the attention,” said Alicia Schwartz, vice president of Project Safe Pet, the local nonprofit that handled Brody’s adoption. “There’s a lot of Brodys. Maybe the violence hasn’t taken place; we see dogs all the time living in very neglectful situations.”

The agency typically finds foster homes locally for the animals until they can be sent to rescue groups and shelters in other parts of the country that don’t have the level of pet overpopulation seen in the South, Schwartz said.

Earlier this month, Project Safe Pet helped find a foster home for “Sasha,” a pit bull that was found malnourished and chained to a dog house at a Rock Hill home with a chain that weighed more than she did. Schwartz said Sasha will stay in her foster home until she is rehabilitated and ready to be adopted.

Project Safe Pet recently helped find a permanent home for “Mr. Wiggles,” one of several pit bulls found chained to trees at a Sharon home where officers found another dog dead on the front porch.

The Humane Society of York County sends abused and neglected animals to foster homes before putting them up for adoption, according to executive director Becca Boronat. The length of time it takes to rehabilitate those animals varies, and sometimes a behavior specialist is needed.

“When they come from an abusive situation and get into a shelter, a shelter is not the best environment for a dog or cat. A home is,” she said. “With some dogs that have been through abuse, sometimes just love is good enough.”

Pit bulls, she said, get a bad rap because of their association with dog fighting.

“It’s not the breed – it’s about how you treat them,” she said. “You’ll see far more bites attributed to chihuahuas and Yorkies.”

Boronat said her office received a number of calls last week inquiring about Brody. She hopes the people who weren’t able to adopt the pup will consider adopting another animal.

“It’s really difficult to explain,” she said, “but you see that some dogs will cause that kind of reaction, even though the same thing may happen with others, and you don’t get that.”

The Humane Society currently has about 80 cats and 50 dogs up for adoption, according to Boronat. Many of those come from the York County Animal Shelter.

“A lot of people think dogs from shelters are damaged dogs, and that’s not true,” she said. “You have people dumping dogs or cats in shelters for no reason at all.”

Animals brought to the county animal shelter go through a “very stringent evaluation, both medically and behaviorially,” according to Robin King, president of Friends of the York County Animal Shelter. The shelter on Thursday had 13 dogs on the adoption floor but has had as many as 30.

While overcrowding is a constant issue at many shelters, the York County shelter has gone from euthanizing 250 cats and 66 dogs in 2012 due to space limitations to zero in 2015, according to numbers provided by the shelter. King says that was accomplished by rescue groups placing animals in foster and permanent homes and organizations educating the public about animal treatment laws and the importance of spay and neuter programs.

If you can’t adopt or foster an animal, rescue groups and organizations say they are also in need of donations of money and supplies.

“There are thousands of Brodys who need good, warm, safe, loving homes,” King said. “A cat or a dog that ends up in the York County Animal Shelter is there through no fault of its own. For every dog that leaves the Humane Society, it allows them to come take another one of our animals in need.”

This story was originally published February 28, 2016 at 7:20 PM with the headline "Officials: Rock Hill puppy abuse case puts spotlight on importance of adoption."