As executive director of the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, Brad Shear has seen his share of grim sights, but the white pit bull that was brought in missing half a leg just before Christmas was particularly heartbreaking.
“It was pretty disturbing. Obviously he had gone through horrible experiences,” said Shear.
A “good Samaritan” brought the stray male dog to the humane society after finding him in the Osborne Road and Sand Creek area. Shear said Everest (the name staff gave the canine to symbolize everything he’d overcome) was missing the bottom half of his front left leg. It looked like a small club and could not be used.
“It ended at what would be the elbow. There was a big stump there,” said Shear. “You can imagine it must have been extremely painful whatever it was he experienced.”
The trouble is, Shear and the veterinarians at the humane society don’t know exactly what happened to Everest.
“His leg could have been caught in a trap, he could have been hit by a car, had a run-in with another animal or this could be a cruelty case,” said Shear.
The veterinarian had to amputate the injured leg to ward off infection since it was an open wound that was just beginning to heal. Shear said once the vet started operating on the shoulder, he found bone shattered, so they suspect Everest was hit by a car.
“It just went untreated. Our guess is, unfortunately, somebody probably knew this happened and allowed him to stay in this condition without treatment,” said Shear.
Despite his traumatic experience, Everest isn’t overly aggressive or a problem patient.
“He seems friendly. He can get a little standoffish with people but he’s obviously been affected by this,” said Shear.
The next step in Everest’s recovery is physical and psychological rehabilitation.
“We’re not sure how long that’s going to take at this point. He’s getting checked regularly by a vet,” said Shear. “Different animals recover at different paces. … He definitely needs some rehabilitation physically and behaviorally.”
Shear estimates it will be several weeks until Everest is medically cleared to move from the humane society to a foster home. A family has already been chosen to care for Everest.
Everest’s case seems tragic, but Shear said it’s not out of the ordinary.
“Unfortunately, we get things like this with some regularly. Every couple weeks we see something pretty serious,” said Shear. “It’s pretty common for us to see animals that are injured or sick when they come in.”
The Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, founded in 1887, is the Capital District’s largest animal protection agency and is located at 3 Oakland Ave. in Menands. The society is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. For more information about the society or for adoption information, visit www.mohawkhumane.org or call 434-8128.
