Detroit Dog With Severed Nose, Ears Gets Reconstructive Surgery

DETROIT, MI — Baron, the Detroit dog animal cruelty experts say was intentionally mutilated when his nose and ears were severed, is getting a chance at a normal life. A team from the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine was in Detroit Wednesday to perform surgery on the chocolate-colored Rottweiler mix found wandering in Detroit last month.

The brutally disfigured dog was rescued by a citizen, who notified the Michigan Humane Society. The reward for the person — or, people — responsible for the dog’s injuries now stands at $40,000, many times higher than the original $2,500.

While Michigan Humane Society work to solve the case, MSU College of Veterinary soft-tissue specialist Dr. Bryden Stanley is heading the team performing surgery on the dog’s nose and tail. Besides the injuries to his nose and ears, Baron’s tail had also been snipped off and his hind legs were injured, according to media reports.

The dog’s reconstructive surgery is a learning opportunity for MSU students observing it, and practical experience for Stanley’s assistant, Maria Podsiedlik, who is enrolled at the College of Veterinary Medicine under an international fellowship program, the Detroit Free Press.

The procedure will have some cosmetic value, but the primary reason behind it was to make Baron more comfortable.

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Even veteran animal cruelty investigators like the Michigan Humane Society’s Mark Ramos say they’ve never seen such an extreme case of animal abuse.

“I have never seen anything this horrific,” Ramos told The Detroit News. “It’s scary that someone can do this to an animal.”

Ramos and others are convinced that more than one person was involved, and they’re troubled by what they say is an indisputable link between cruelty to animals and violence against humans.

“I have a hard time believing that one person could hold the dog, cut off both ears, cut off his tail, injure his back legs and slice off his nose without the dog biting or getting away,” Ramos told The Detroit News. “For one person to do that, they would have to struggle, and the cuts are pretty clean. I think multiple people did this, at least two.”

Tips are still coming in, and Ramos said he and his team follow up on each one, but they’re no closer to finding Baron’s abuser than they were the day Shane Fits, of Lincoln Park, found him walking near his workplace in the area of Epworth Street and Warren Avenue in Detroit on Jan. 17. The dog willingly jumped into Fit’s car, and remained close during the drive to the Humane Society’s Mackey Center for Animal Care in Detroit.

“This dog was looking for help,” Fits told The Detroit News. “Most stray dogs are afraid of you. He licked his tail while I petted him. I was talking to him and as I was petting him, he licked my hand, then pressed his chin up the palm of my hand. I wanted to cry. He was really reaching out to me, looking for help.”

Photos via Michigan Humane Society