Someone filmed it from their car window and could not believe what they were seeing. A pit bull, chained to the rack of a pickup truck, riding down a Southern California freeway.
The video was posted on Reddit and spread fast. Within hours, it reached animal rights advocate Kris Kelly, who shared it on her own pages.
And within just one hour of that, a volunteer at North Central Animal Shelter in Los Angeles called to tell her the dog had been surrendered and was now in their care.
His name is West.
When West arrived at the shelter, he was not just shaken. He had a serious laceration around his neck, believed to be caused by the very chain he had been secured with in the back of that truck.
“There’s a really bad laceration around his neck,” Kelly said. “They brought the dog in the shelter with that chain.”
West is currently recovering in the medical wing of North Central Animal Shelter under the care of veterinarians.
He has not yet been listed for adoption, but Kelly says he could be ready in the coming days.
But beyond West’s story, Kelly is shining a light on something even bigger.
Shelters across Los Angeles are critically overcrowded. Large dogs are being housed five or six to a kennel, with no guarantee they even get along. Vulnerable animals like West are harder to care for when there is simply not enough space or support.
“Please. Fosters are needed,” Kelly said. “Go to your local shelter and see what’s going on. It’s awful.”
She is urging anyone who can to share West’s story, foster an animal, or visit their local shelter.
“Every dog in that shelter and all the other shelters deserves it,” Kelly said. “But we got the video for this one dog. So let’s get him out.”
West survived the freeway. He survived the chain. Now he just needs someone to open a door for him.
Source:
cbsnews – “Video shows dog chained in back of pickup truck on Southern California freeway, sparking adoption efforts”