No More Bellas

Neighbors Help Starving Dog When Animal Control Fails

By Cathryn Rakich Animals & Their Allies

This is about Bella and the system that failed her.

Dec. 4, a neighbor calls 311 about a dog at her apartment complex in South Natomas. The canine is left 24/7 on a small uncovered patio with no food or shelter. Storms are raging, temperatures are in the 30s.

Photos taken over the fence show a short-hair, medium-size, brown dog on a 3-by-5-foot cement patio. Her ribs protrude. She stands in her feces. The caller reports the “dog looks very skinny and is always hungry.”

Dec. 5, the call is cleared by a Front Street Animal Shelter staffer who mixes up the abuse report with a feces complaint from the same apartment complex. No animal control officer is dispatched.

Dec. 6, the neighbor calls again. Call log states: “Dog still doesn’t have food or water, looks like dog is dying. Severe malnutrition looks like he hasn’t eaten in months. Shows ribs. Maybe a German shepherd. Dog has been outside without a dog house, getting rained on. Crate is full of water.”