Community helps pay for surgery of dog thrown from moving vehicle in Avon

AVON, Conn. (WTNH) — Avon Animal Control officials are caring for a dog allegedly thrown from a moving vehicle on Route 44 Tuesday afternoon.

“This is absolutely criminal,” Avon Animal Control Officer Angela Grano said. “This is happening far too often.”

Animal control said the roughly 1-year-old Lhasa Apso was thrown from the vehicle near Petco and Puerto Vallarta around 4 p.m. Avon police are looking for a blue SUV in relation to the incident.

Grano says two girls witnessed the incident and brought the dog into the store for safety.

Animal control has nick-named the lhasa apso “Amelia Earhart,” following the incident because the dog went flying out of the vehicle.

X-rays indicated the little pup has a broken pelvis in four places, which they said takes a $6,000 surgery to address. They accepted donations from anyone willing to contribute to the surgery through the Avon Pet Pantry.

On Wednesday, animal control staff thanked the community for helping to pay for Amelia’s surgery, which was scheduled for later in the day.

“Let’s hope she survives the surgery,” Grano said. “We are literally just about there, and I’m flabbergasted and speechless, I might cry. I’m astounded by the community support we’ve had.”

Donations can be made to the Avon Pet Pantry by cash or check only at 11 Arch Rd., either to personnel there or by leaving the donation in the black bin at the front door. Cash should be mailed in.

Meanwhile, Hamden animal control is investigating after two cats were dumped in their cages at the Beaverdale Memorial Park Cemetery. According to a social media post, one of the crates says “Dory” on it.

Joe Ferhat lives close by and says “it’s disturbing.I mean just take it into the kennel or try to do something humane. You don’t just drop it off.”

Advocacy group Desmond’s Army said animal abandonment is becoming the norm, leaving shelters across Connecticut at full capacity. The group is offering a $5,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to the arrest or prosecution of the suspect who threw the dog out of the car in Avon.

Zilla Cannamela, the group’s president, said the state has seen an uptick in animal cruelty cases, adding a large part of the problem is due to rescue groups importing animals from outside of the Connecticut.

“This is a lot of what’s happening and perhaps a solution would be to put a cap on the amount of animals allowed to be imported to the state every year,” Cannamela said.

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