On Oreo, Mabel, and Killing Abused Animals

I somehow didn't know the story of Oreo, the 1-year-old pit bull or pit bull mix who was repeatedly abused before being thrown off the roof of a 6-story building this summer, until today -- when I read about what happened to her yesterday: though she survived the traumatic fall that broke her two front legs and more and was physically recovering, she was killed yesterday by the ASPCA, which insisted that she was too aggressive to be adopted. The ASPCA told reporters that as she began healing from her injuries, she simultaneously began showing aggression -- "growling, lunging and trying to bite people who came too close." To her reactions, I say, big surprise. And to how long the ASPCA gave her to recover, I say, meet Mabel.

Mabel the pit bull's story is too long to put into this post; that will have to be another post of its own. Indeed, it may be a couple posts because I have a happy story about her progress (and the potential for abused dogs' recovery in general) that I've been meaning to tell you, and yet another news story this past week about abused members of her breed requires some comment too. But I'll say this: Mabel was horribly abused by humans too. When I found her in May 2008, her first 1 1/2 years had clearly been a nightmare, and her injuries were many, her trauma severe. For 17 months, Mabel trusted no one but me and my ex, the people who had found her and earned her trust on a night when she was too sick, weak, and in need to resist us. For 17 months, I didn't know what it was like to have someone in this house without Mabel blocked in the back of the house, barking and jumping and panicking herself to the point of exhaustion, and only two people knew the sweetest, gentlest, most loving and trusting side of Mabel. Mabel's behaviorist, who has much experience with severely traumatized dogs and still couldn't get near her, classified her as one of the most fearful dogs she'd ever met. The last year and a half has been exhausting.

But Mabel had a breakthrough last month and proved beyond a doubt that she wants to trust, and she wants to love people; she just needed time, patience, and understanding. And she still needs it. She has had a beautiful breakthrough, but it is still a process.

You can't take a dog like Mabel or Oreo and expect her to initially feel anything but fear of or enmity toward humans, when humans are the ones who have terrorized her, who in Mabel's case are the ones who blinded her eye, broke her jaw, scarred her face, and more, who in Oreo's case are the ones who beat her severely and threw her off a roof. You can't tell a dog in words that not all humans are alike. You can't explain to a dog how sorry you are and that you'll never hurt her, even though that's all she's known since she was a puppy. Hell, you can't explain this even to a human abuse victim who does have the capacity to speak our language.

Would a toddler whose only experience with adults has been severe abuse and neglect --and attempted murder -- be expected to recover within a few months? When she may even still be in pain from her physical injuries, and it's been only a few months since her brutal beatings and brush with death and rescue, would we expect her to have made significant, rapid progress in her mental and emotional struggles, even if she could be talked to and comforted with words regarding her harrowing experiences? Or would we accept and understand that she needs time -- love and patience and understanding and time -- and that this will be a process, sometimes a slow one, maybe a lifelong one?

Oreo was only 1 year old. She was given only a few months to recover from unspeakable abuse and trauma. She deserved longer. She deserved a chance at life. They all do.

The organization that killed Oreo decided that she was hopeless and claim that they had to kill her because otherwise, she would have had to live her life out in a facility, in isolation. But there is, quite frankly, no way they could have known that. She wasn't given enough time or a fair chance. She was in no position yet to be evaluated (and such evaluations are a whole other topic). I've no doubt that those involved felt heartache over this decision. But they were misguided, and they were absolutely wrong to give up on her so soon, especially when another animal group was pleading to take her and give her a chance. They don't get to say she was hopeless after only a few months, after what she went through. They don't get to say they did everything possible to save her if another group was asking to take responsibility for her, and they killed her anyway.

She was 1 year old. She was thrown off a roof. And her rescuers just killed her.

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ASPCA photo