ANIMAL CRUELTY? Canine dubbed ‘Devil Dog’ found in severe condition

Pictured is the dog a local family believed was responsible for attacking and killing their pet pit bull. On Monday, Cameron County Animal Control officers captured the canine, which was discovered to have been suffering from a severe case of mange and euthanized as a result. (Courtesy photo)

By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com

In what one authority said could be the worst case of animal cruelty in the last 15 years, Cameron County Animal Control officers found on Monday the canine dubbed “the devil” by a family who claimed it killed their pit bull.

But what may have been more ghoulish was the condition the animal was found in.

It was Wednesday, March 21 when San Benito residents Juan Manuel Vega, 57, and his wife Irma Guajardo, 45, said a member of their family confided in them about a harrowing encounter with an animal they described as a number of prehistoric, mythical and supernatural creatures ranging from a dinosaur, the chupacabra to the devil himself.

Literally shaking from fright, Vega and Guajardo reported the entire ordeal to the San Benito News on Thursday, claiming that the animal frightened the family member in question when, at one point, it supposedly stood on its hind legs.

As the story goes, the animal was first seen by Vega and Guajardo’s relative, who has wished to remain anonymous, in the vicinity of Gamble and Hudson Roads at approximately 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. That’s when two children playing outside witnessed the animal attack and kill their family pet, a pit bull. Cell phone pictures were taken of the animal as it was leaving the home and were shown to the News.

Seeking a veterinarian’s insight, the News took the pictures to Dr. Allison Tewell-Merritt of San Benito Animal Hospital, who upon viewing the cell phone images identified the animal as a dog, possibly a pit bull, suffering from a severe case of mange. And citing a potential public health concern, Dr. Tewell-Merritt further stressed that the animal be euthanized as soon as possible, fearing that it could have been carrying rabies and, at the very least, spreading mange.

On Friday, the News reported the matter to Cameron County Animal Control Director Gus Olivares, whose department responded promptly by capturing the dog Monday afternoon at a home located not far from where Vega and Guajardo said it was last seen.

According to Olivares, the animal didn’t appear to show symptoms of rabies.

“It was actually at a residence taking a nap in a shaded area,” Olivares said. “We were allowed entry into the property and were able to capture the dog.”

Despite these recent developments, not to mention Dr. Tewell-Merritt’s identification of the animal as a dog, Vega and Guajardo continue to insist that what was captured is not the same animal that scared their family.

“To me, it looked too small,” Vega said on Tuesday after seeing a picture of that the county’s dog animal control officers captured.

Like Dr. Tewell-Merritt, however, Olivares was confident that the animal was indeed of canine origin.

What’s more unsettling is the possibility that the animal could, at one time, have had an owner that abandoned it. Should that be the case, animal cruelty charges may await said person.

“The dog was in very bad condition, and if someone would come forward and claim the animal, there could be a possibility of animal cruelty (charges filed), but no one is going to claim it,” Olivares said, noting further that the dog was “immediately euthanized” upon capture.

“It was suffering a lot, it didn’t have any hair, and it was bleeding in sections of its body,” Olivares said. “I’ve been employed almost 15 years (with Cameron County Animal Control), and never in my life have I seen an animal that bad.”