For a first time, Friends of the Warwick Animal Shelter have posted rewards to “bring justice” to abandoned animals.

Triggering efforts to abate what appears to be a growing trend to dispose of pets that are no longer wanted, was the discovery of a dead husky wrapped in a plastic plaid sheet last summer, along with seven abandoned rabbits, two pit-bulls and a boxer that were abandoned in the past several weeks.

“This is not acceptable treatment of animals in our City! We will not sit by and allow Warwick to become a dumping ground for owned animals or mistreated animals,” reads the reward notice posted on social media.

Judy Salvadore, president of the Friends of the Warwick Animal Shelter, who joined the organization in 1991, finds turning unwanted pets loose a growing trend. Additionally troubling to her is that people aren’t reporting this.

“To let a dog starve and then let it go is very disturbing,” she said.

She sees the rewards program as a means of bringing attention to what is happening and getting people to realize they “can’t just abandon animals.” So far the FWA has generated support, but few leads to those abandoning animals. Initially, FWA put up a $500 reward for information on the husky. Three people voluntarily stepped forward, boosting it to $2,500.

Salvadore recognizes it is a long shot to get “hard evidence” such as a photo or video of someone releasing rabbits from a cage or dumping a dog’s body. However, she thinks people may have noticed something, such as the disappearance of dogs from a fenced yard or rabbit cages, which would give police a lead to investigate. Information is to be phoned into the Warwick Animal Shelter, which will be turned over to police.

Thorough investigation

According to the report of the husky incident, police spent considerable efforts in attempting to identify where the dog may have come from and those responsible for disposing of him. They were unable to find any usable finger prints on the black plastic bag used for disposal; they looked back three years for animal control calls involving huskies and created a spread sheet of 18 residences in the city known to have a husky, which they later visited.

Doing nothing is not an option for Salvadore.

“Silence is acceptance,” she said. 

Social media posts of the dead male husky wrapped in a plaid sheet and left in Rocky Point Park on Aug. 8 prompted an outcry from animal lovers across the state. Warwick Police and Warwick Animal Control responded to the scene, but it wasn’t until about a week ago that results of a necropsy established that heat stroke was the cause of death, according to Ann Corvin, Warwick animal control supervisor. According to a report accompanying the reward offer, temperatures on Aug. 8 were in the 80s and it appears the dog had been left in a car or a confined space, causing temperatures to rise to a “dangerous and ultimately fatal level.”

Found with the dog were chalk and crayons leading to speculation that the dog was owned by a family.

In recent weeks, Corvin said the city has witnessed a spike in abandoned animals. She said five rabbits were let loose in Goddard Park. A spectator to the incident took down a description of the vehicle and a plate number resulting in an arrest. Two of the rabbits were caught and taken to a shelter. Another seven rabbits were abandoned in Rocky Point.

Corvin didn’t have the details, but she said some of the rabbits were caught by people in the parks who realized they were pets. Corvin advised people looking to own a rabbit for a pet to get it from a shelter, as in all likelihood they will not have been fixed or spayed.

She said it can be difficult to sex bunnies and store bought bunnies can be mistakenly identified. “You can get in trouble fast if you don’t have fixed rabbits,” she said. Some of the rabbits are being sheltered by the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and are available for adoption, said spokeswoman Stephanie VanPatten.  

Three dogs abandoned

On Super Bowl Sunday, animal control received calls about three abandoned dogs in the vicinity of City Park. A homeowner called after finding one of the dogs on her front steps. The others were found in the park. Corvin believes all three dogs were released simultaneously and belonged to the same owner. All were malnourished and without collars. One, a pit bull, had a chip.

So far Animal Control has received calls regarding the husky, “but nothing has panned out,” said Corvin. To her recollection, rewards for information have been offered in the past, but never claimed. The RISPCA has offered reward programs in the past, but generally have not found them successful in leading to an arrest.

The husky case is “beyond horrible” said Karen Kallunian, whose weekly newspaper column “Animal Talk,” features animals up for adoption. She said Friday she would be shooting a video of some of the abandoned dogs and that would be made available on the Animal Talk, the websites of participating newspapers and social media.

Kallunian, who is in contact with many of Rhode Island’s animal rescue organizations said, “People are dumping animals everywhere, shelters are on overload and it’s really bad right now.”

Many rescue organizations have limited facilities to house animals and depend on volunteers to foster them. They then host adoption events where prospective adoptees can meet dogs. As has been noted in reports in this newspaper and other media, dog adoptions became the rage during the pandemic. With people returning to work places and children to schools and colleges, there wasn’t time to devote to the pet that had become such an important companion.

Salvadore sees it going deeper than the pandemic.

“People don’t take responsibility anymore,” she said. This sounds like an indictment of Rhode Islanders, but it extends well beyond that. She notes many of the dogs for adoption here, in fact most of them, are from southern states where animal rescue groups there are saving them from kill shelters and sending them north. She commends the efforts of these groups, but points out if they lobbied for spay and neuter legislation plus other animal protection laws as was done in Rhode Island, there wouldn’t be a glut of adoptable dogs.

“They’re taking away (possible homes) from animals here,” she said. 

The Warwick Animal Shelter presently is housing ten dogs. It is built to handle more, but Covin doesn’t want to compromise the care and attention given the animals.

“We’re at max to provide the exercise and stimulation we do,” she explained.

Reports of the dead husky and the condition in which it had been found sparked a flurry of outrage on social media and calls to find those responsible. It continues today. Among comments posted on Facebook in response to the reward read and the finding the dog died of heat stroke include:

“Probably tied up outside with no shelter and no water. That’s why the reward is high. Someone tortured this animal.”

“People are disgusting and despicable do not own an animal if you're not going to love it like family and treat it like it should be treated if you can't afford to take it to the vet then don't have a pet I hope karma gets whoever is responsible for this”

“How rotten. My heart goes out to the poor dog”

“This is so saddening. I really hope the person or people responsible for this gets reported and found.”

“Thinking of the sad life this poor boy lived, only to be thrown away like garbage should trigger feelings of rage and vengeance. Someone knows who did this. Come forward anonymously and let whoever did this suffer some setbacks”