CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - It's a case of neglect even animal control officers said they couldn't believe.
“I don't know how they could walk by her every day and not realize there’s something wrong or consciously even feel guilty about her,” said Montgomery County Animal Control Director Jeanette Farrell.
After multiple calls from people concerned, officers picked up Hope from her outdoor pen June 24. Her owners were booked into jail last week.
“The flea fecal matter, the feces from the fleas alone were about an inch thick on her,” Farrell said.
Officers said she was emaciated, had a non-contagious form of mange, hundreds of fleas and mites, several broken teeth, dangerously overgrown nails and on top of that suffered from heat exhaustion and skin cancer after baking in the sun 24 hours a day.
“She could barely lift her head,” said Farrell.
Her owners Robert French and Joe Haase have been charged with animal cruelty, but they said it's Animal Control that's in the wrong.
“We've dewormed her, flea medicine, we've had our yard sprayed, we've been doing everything we can do,” French said.
He showed us their other dogs who seem in good condition. He said they couldn’t afford a vet for what he called Hope's “skin allergy.”
“Bless her heart she loses her fur every year, we go through this every year ever since she was six months old,” he said.
But the emergency vet who treated her said in a letter her scabs and wounds show a chronic condition, severe enough to indicate inadequate care over a long period of time.
French has hired a lawyer and said he wants the dog back and an apology.
“You think that you deserve to get Hope back?” asked reporter Rebecca Schleicher.
“Oh yes ma’am, yes ma’am,I mean If we were abusing our animals then take our dogs but we’re not abusing our animals,” he said.
Animal control said that would ruin the progress she’s made with four different medications and a weekly medicine bath. Farrell said Hope has gained 12 pounds since the shelter began treatment.
Staff wanted to give Hope a big helping of her own namesake by finding her a new family for life.
Animal control said they hear a lot of cases where people can't pay to get their animals the care they need. Montgomery County said pet owners can call them, the Humane Society, or any number of local or national rescues who can help pay the bills.
As soon as they hear from a judge on this case, Montgomery County Animal Control said they hope to foster Hope to a good family.
Staff said she'll need a little extra care as her skin heals, but she should be fully recovered in six to seven months.
