Heartless users on Los Angeles’ Skid Row are testing their drugs on dogs as part of horrific animal abuse in the notoriously squalid area, a nonprofit group says.
“Every day we get another call, saying people are trying to sell their dog for drugs, and this dog is dying on the streets,” Joey Tuccio, a volunteer with Starts With One Today, told KTLA, saying vile abusers have tested their drugs on dogs to make sure they’re not laced with deadly fentanyl.
“We try to come every Sunday and all we see are dogs being bred, dogs being abused and neglected.”
The group receives frequent calls about animals in need in the area and dogs dying or being sold for drugs. A photo of a black dog rescued by the group shows the pooch with a cone around his head and a rotten leg.
“We had to amputate the black dog’s leg because it was rotten to the bone,” he told The California Post of the Skid Row rescue.
The group’s co-founder, Jonathan Parker, said puppies are being sold on the street, while others are left for dead.
In one instance, rescuers treated a dog with severe injuries to one eye and a leg. The dog’s owner dog was trying to dissect its leg with tweezers while under the influence of drugs, Parker said.
Members of Starts With One Today, which provides supplies to homeless people and animals on Skid Row, said politicians aren’t helping the crisis.
“I mean, it’s crazy,” Tuccio said. “We’re coming out here, risking our lives to help these dogs with no support from the government.”
LA Mayor Karen Bass announced a plan to investigate allegations on animal abuse on Skid Row in November of last year.
But advocates say elected officials aren’t doing enough.
“Absolutely not,” Tuccio told The Post. when asked if the program has had an impact.
“We have called the police and animal services countless times after this ‘initiative.’ They literally see dogs being illegally bred and do nothing besides give the breeders crates to imprison the dogs.
The group still wants to help, even in the most dire circumstances.
“It is frustrating,” Parker told KTLA. “But at the end of the day, if we don’t do it, no one will.”
Bass’ office said that more than 100 LAPD officers have been trained to handle animal cruelty cases.
“Since then, animals have been rescued, multiple citations and arrests have been made, and potential animal abuse or cruelty cases have been referred to the District Attorney and City Attorney,” a spokesperson said.
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