Police: Dogs Found 'Neglected, Abused' In Upper Darby Park
UPPER DARBY, Pa. (CBS)—Police in Upper Darby are searching for the people responsible after two dogs were apparently found abandoned in the park.
"When I picked her up she was as cold as an ice cube. She was on the brink of death right here, said Russell Harper, the chief humane officer with Justice Rescue. "I've investigated thousands of cruelty cases and I thought she was dead. Gracie, the one, I thought she was dead"
Now named Gracie and Layla, the two are in extremely critical condition at a nearby animal hospital. It is suspected they were used and abused for the sake of dog fighting.
The dogs were found in the Penn Pines Park in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
"It's difficult to come up with a name for someone who would do something like this. I called them dirt balls I mean they really are dirt balls," said Superintendent Michael Chitwood, with the Upper Darby Police Department.
"These animals were starved, they got very bad scars from physical abuse, not just the fighting, they were beat. So this is the life they have had for them," said Harper.
But in that violent horror, their love for each other was not broken.
"Even though they were used as fighting dogs, Layla would not leave Gracie and she was trying to nuzzle her to get up.
Layla has been allowed to stay with Gracie--the worse off of the two--as both do what they have long been forced to: fight for their lives.
"If you can treat an animal that way, you can treat a human that way," Harber said.
Anyone who can recognize these dogs, or has any information, is asked to call police at 610-734-7693 .
