A Rifle man has been given probation for animal cruelty after his mastiff Dora died. She suffered infections and severe malnutrition and was forced to drag her hind legs because of untreated injuries.
“Dora lost her battle to survive; she was too far gone and unable to recover,” Tanny McGinnis, spokeswoman for the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, said in a news release.
Daniel Eliseo Zepeda Perez, 37, of Rifle, was given one year of probation and required to pay nearly $10,000 in medical costs and fines for the abuse of his 2-year-old dog.
Sheriff’s deputies seized Dora in June. At the time, the mother of a litter of puppies weighed only 74 pounds. Dora should have weighed between 120 and 140 pounds, authorities said.
Dora had chronic hip pain and a severe infection stemming from an old injury when she was a puppy, McGinnis said.
In the days before deputies seized her, Dora was unable to walk and had to drag her hind end to move about while mothering her puppies, McGinnis said.
Perez kept Dora on a short cable across the driveway from an unused dog house. She was surrounded by broken ceramic tiles and loose screws in a dirt area, the release said.
“I can’t understand how such a sweet dog was allowed to suffer so greatly and in such pain,” animal control officer Aimee Chappelle said in a statement.
Several veterinarians including an orthopedic surgeon spent thousands of dollars and many hours working to save Dora, but the dog died, according to McGinnis.
All of the puppies are healthy and have been adopted, she said.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
