BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — A Missouri woman, heartbroken over the sight of a dog standing in floodwater inside of its kennel, posted a video of the pup on social media.
According to WDAF, neighbor Samantha Sell took the video after she said the dog had been in the flooded kennel for days. She said it started Friday as the storms rolled in over the city of Blue Springs.
“The water wasn’t as bad. It was sloshy for about a day, but then the rain started building, and it wasn’t draining out of the cage,” Sell said. “I seen him walking around the cage in circles for hours, and I am just thinking, ‘Where is your food? How are you using the bathroom?’ Just like, you can’t lay down. You can’t sleep, and so it broke my heart.”
The video has been viewed more than 200,000 times. Thousands were outraged at the sight of the dog named Bear in his flooded pen.
Sell also recorded video of the Blue Springs Animal Control Officer who responded.
“That is not fresh water obviously, but it probably was fresh water until it started flooding,” the officer was heard saying on the video. “I understand. It is frustrating. I understand that completely, but I can only do so much.”
Blue Springs Police would not talk to WDAF on camera, but on Facebook, the department posted pictures of the dog run, showing a raised dog house, along with this statement:
The Blue Springs Police Department and the City of Blue Springs completely understands the concern and frustration surrounding the conditions of the dog that appeared in the video circulating social media last night (October 9, 2018.) We want you to know we have continued to monitor this situation. While state laws prevented us from seizing the dog without a warrant at the time the video was taken, the owner was issued a citation and ordered to remove the standing water in the outdoor dog run and bring the dog inside for the night. The owner complied, and this was completed at about 6:30 p.m. on October 9.
When WDAF went by Wednesday, Bear was inside the house, and the owner was not home.
“I think it is absolutely ridiculous,” said Andrea Knobbe with The Rescue Project, an animal outreach group that educates pet owners about city ordinances and how to best care for their pets.
“Things like leptospirosis, water-borne diseases, that kind of thing are really, really serious stuff. We actually had an animal pass away from lepto about 10 days ago,” Knobbe said.
Many people who have seen this video are calling on lawmakers to change the laws to better protect animals in this and other situations.
