Necropsy Photos Show Bucoda Dog Suffered Unfathomable Abuse

WARNING – THIS POST CONTAINS EXTREMELY GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING PHOTOS OF AN ABUSED DOG. THEY ARE LOCATED AT THE END OF THE POST.

Officials Look Away as a Bucoda Dog Suffers

Have you ever heard the saying “a fish rots from the head down”? It means that when an entity is corrupt or dysfunctional, it’s due to the failure of leadership of the person at the top of it.

The phrase describes recent events in Bucoda, WA.

The owner of a severely neglected dog named Wolfie asked a friend to kill it after someone reported it to animal control. For years, people in Bucoda saw this dog around town in horrible condition; however, no one ever reported it to animal control or any other government entity.

Bucoda Mayor: Dog Looked Fine

Through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), I obtained a copy of the police report regarding the investigation of Wolfie’s death.

When the officer who filed the report asked Bucoda Mayor Alan Carr if he had noticed “anything medically wrong the dog,” he responded by saying, “no, I just saw him last week and he looked fine. old, but fine.”

Mayor Carr also told the Chronicle last week that “the city had no knowledge of the dog being abused and that the dog was a normal sight in town, having been in the area for six to eight years.”

“We saw the dog almost every day. You’d see him walking the streets,” Carr told the Chronicle. “He never went out of city limits and he never bothered anyone.”

He probably never bothered anyone because he couldn’t focus on anything but the pain and agony he suffered every day.

Bucoda, WA Mayor Alan Carr said he didn’t see anything medically wrong with Wolfie. The necrospy showed that statement was ridiculous. Photo credit withheld.

But the horrific pictures of Wolfie taken at his necropsy clearly show  the Mayor either doesn’t care about animal abuse or doesn’t understand what it is.

Worst Abuse I’ve Seen

(THE NEXT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE ABOUT WHAT I SAW IN WOLFIE’S NECROPSY PICTURES.)

The pictures I saw showed some of the worst abuse I’ve ever seen inflicted on a dog. The hair on the bottom half of his body was gone. Most of the exposed skin was black and cracked, including the skin on his penis and testicles.

Much of the skin had lesions and maggots. He had open lesions at the base of his tail and on his anus, which also had 2 raised, exposed tumors. The vet also said he had been shot at least once before awhile ago.

Any person with a working pair of eyes could see that Wolfie was the victim of severe animal abuse. And I can’t begin to image the pain and suffering he experienced.

The veterinarian that conducted the necropsy said “In my professional opinion, this patient suffered tremendously from chronic severe skin, oral, joint, and ear disease as well as neglect and starvation in life, and also “likely suffered painfully in death.”

Anyone who ignored Wolfie’s condition must have no sympathy or compassion for animals.

Based on the fact that Mayor Carr thought Wofle looked “just fine” the week before he was killed, it’s not surprising that the person who tried to report the dog’s condition to animal control was told by a city official that “dogs are considered property and we don’t tell people what they can do with the property.”

I guess he isn’t familiar with Washington’s animal cruelty laws. Or doesn’t care about them.

It’s also not surprising that no one in Bucoda tried to help this dog. Apparently they reflect the opinion of the Mayor and his administration have for abused animals.

First Degree Animal Cruelty

I learned yesterday that the County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office sent Wolfie’s case back to Joint Animal Services for “more investigation.” It got the case last week from JAS with a recommendation to charge Wolfie’s owner and the person who shot the dog with first degree animal cruelty.

The request should be just a formality. I can’t imagine a scenario where officials wouldn’t hold Wolfie’s abusers accountable for their actions.

Please sign and share this petition to County Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunheim urging his office to file first degree animal abuse charges against them.

Here are some of the pictures from Wolfie’s necropsy. They will break your heart.

Now tell me, does Wolfie look “fine” to you?

Wolfie was missing fur on the back half of his body.

Blackened, damaged skin around the base of Wolfie’s tail.

More maggots and blackened, exposed skin. Photo from Steamboat Animal Hospital.

Anal cysts. Photo from Steamboat Animal Hospital.