Three-month-old Gizmo, a tiny, adorable Dachshund and Chihuahua mix who lives in Sarasota County, Florida, was having a rough time Sunday morning. He suffers from a seizure disorder, according to the New York Daily News, which causes the little dog to yelp in pain.
He was in pain Sunday, and the boyfriend of his owner didn’t like that. This man, Ephrian Myles, grabbed Gizmo and poured hot sauce all over his face. He was trying to get the dog to stop yelping in pain — and he used hot sauce.
The hot sauce ran down Gizmo’s throat, and it coated his fur and eyes. Fortunately, his owner, Kelly Ripely, acted quickly. She called the police and then rushed the dog down to a fire department a few blocks away.
Officers Jessica Sullivan and Adam Arena met Ripley at the station.
“I thought it [Gizmo] was dying if it wasn’t already dead,” Sullivan said at a news conference, according to Fox 13. “It wasn’t really breathing, its eyes weren’t open, it wasn’t moving at all.”
“I picked it up, looked at it, brought it to my face, and I could smell the pepper and the vinegar,” she continued. “I looked at [officer Arena] and was like, this dog has hot sauce on it.”
When the officers began to wash off the sauce, they realized just how soaked in it the dog was — “there was just red coming off of the dog’s skin,” Sullivan said.
They turned the dog over to animal services for treatment, then they went back to Ripely’s house to confront Myles.
No surprise here: He denied everything. The officers noted a large amount of hot sauce on the floor. Myles said he didn’t know anything about it. Officers took him to jail and booked him on suspicion of felony aggravated animal cruelty. He’s being held on $5,000 bail.
Gizmo, meanwhile, is recovering at the Sarasota Veterinarian Emergency and Speciality Center, and Ripley relinquished ownership of Gizmo to Sarasota police, saying she didn’t think she could take care of him. Gizmo is expected to make a full recovery. We hope someone will adopt the puppy and give him the good life he deserves.
“You have [a] three-pound dog that fits in the palm of your hand, and just knowing that somebody is capable of doing that to a defenseless animal — it just breaks your heart,” Sarasota Police spokeswoman Genevieve Judge said.
Via New York Daily News and Fox 13.
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