A 2-year-old Belgian Malinois named Eagle, who was suffering from a potentially life-threatening leg infection brought on by alleged neglect, is in recovery after a timely rescue by San Diego County Animal Services last month, officials said this week.
The surgery that removed the dog’s back right leg — which was originally riddled with necrosis and showing underlying bone — saved the animal’s life just in time. And now the owner, a man from Campo, is facing animal neglect charges, Animal Services Director Vaughn Maurice said Thursday.
Maurice did not name the owner, saying that while the District Attorney’s Office has charged him, Animal Services is still waiting for an arrest warrant from the court.
“We regularly have cases that we’re out investigating that don’t rise to the level of felony neglect,” Maurice said. “But if the case is really egregious, and we really can tell that the individual has no regard for the animal whatsoever, then we really go after that individual, regardless of whether they’re going to comply.”
On Jan. 6, Animal Services Lt. Natalie Harrington was sent to a home on Morena View Drive near Oak Drive after the department received a report from the resident who stated he believed one of his dogs was being poisoned, Maurice said.
When Harrington arrived, she found no evidence that the animal was being poisoned. But what caught her eye while on the call was another dog at the home with a severe injury that needed serious help, she said.
“She was just in so much pain that it was really hard for her to interact with people and really trust people,” Harrington said.
The owner told the lieutenant that it was “just a sore leg,” Maurice relayed, but Harrington disagreed, insisting he take the animal to the vet as soon as possible.
Harrington gave the dog owner a formal notification and told him she’d be back to check on Eagle. When she returned three days later, she learned the owner had ignored the order, and she seized the aminal.
Eagle was immediately taken to a veterinarian, who said that if the dog’s leg wasn’t amputated quickly, the infection would become life-threatening. It was determined that laser surgery would be the best option to save Eagle’s life but would be costly.
Even so, the department wanted to give Eagle a fighting chance, so it turned to its Spirit Veterinary Medical Fund, a permanent fund founded with the support of local residents in 2008 that for nearly two decades has helped animals in need of specialized care receive help.
“We may have possibly been able to do it in-house … but it would have been a much longer, tougher procedure, with a much longer recovery time. She might not have been able to do it,” Maurice said. “You could say that the spirit fund saved Eagle’s life.”
In the month following the surgery, officials said the animal’s health and untrusting behavior completely turned around.
“She’s been able to get that pain level down, and she’s super nice now, we’re able to pet her and able to walk her,” Harrington said. A video posted by the agency shows the now three-legged dog playing with toys, running around a pen and happily sitting in Harrington’s lap.
“If you’re donating to our fund, you know that the money is going to help animals because that’s what it’s there for,” Maurice said.
Animal Services impounded 194 animals in 2023 and another 298 last year.
“Many times, we tell somebody and let them know what the problem is, that they need to get their animal to a vet, and they usually do that,” Maurice said. “But when they’re not going to do that, then we’re going to pursue every legal avenue.”
If her owner is convicted, Eagle will continue her rehabilitation with Animal Services until she is ready to go up for adoption, Maurice said.
For more information on how to donate to the department, visit sddac.com/content/sdc/das.html.
