FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA -- An Alexandria man has been charged with misdemeaner animal cruelty following the death of a dog that he had taken to the Fairfax County Animal Shelter.

After an investigation by Animal Control officers, Fairfax County police officers arrested ERYK MISRAIN CRUZ, 19, on Thursday and took him to the county jail, according to the police.

On May 27, an unidentified man dropped off a mixed-breed pit bull terrier at the animal shelter. The dog, a female named Zili, was about 11 months old and "extremely emaciated," the police said. She was taken to an emergency veterinarian and received medical treatment.

On June 1, Zili passed away due to her poor health. "A necropsy was completed by the state animal health laboratory and determined that she died from emaciation, dehydration and bacterial necrotizing enterocolitis," the police said.

If you are no longer able to care for your pet, you can surrender it to the Fairfax County Animal Shelter. Click here for more information or visit the animal shelter's website.
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Typical pit owner. This poor breed should be outlawed already. Not only dangerous but the type of trash that adopts them abuses them. Latina owner who thinks of her dogs as her kids and relatives.

Probably couldn't afford to give the dog proper veterinary care.

I don't think the guy was deliberately starving the dog. Necrotizing enterocolitis causes both vomiting and diarrhea, so either the dog wasn't eating because she was sick or she wasn't able to retain the food long enough to get nutritional value from it.

However, he should have surrendered the dog a lot sooner if he couldn't afford to take it to the vet. Pet ownership is a luxury, and if you're not rich enough to take your pet to the veterinarian when it's sick, you're not rich enough to own a pet.

Senor Cruz is the real victim here. If only we had provided him with free luxury housing, this never would've happened. It's the Scrooge taxpayers fault! Besides, in his culture, starving or eating a dog is a god-given right that we MUST respect. Celebrate Diversity!

HCkP6 Wrote:
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> Probably couldn't afford to give the dog proper
> veterinary care.
>
> I don't think the guy was deliberately starving
> the dog. Necrotizing enterocolitis causes both
> vomiting and diarrhea, so either the dog wasn't
> eating because she was sick or she wasn't able to
> retain the food long enough to get nutritional
> value from it.
>
> However, he should have surrendered the dog a lot
> sooner if he couldn't afford to take it to the
> vet. Pet ownership is a luxury, and if you're not
> rich enough to take your pet to the veterinarian
> when it's sick, you're not rich enough to own a
> pet.


The government should start paying people for having pets.

That poor puppy looks so scared in that picture. Why would someone go out of their way to torture a little puppy? Makes me sick.

I probably hate animal abusers worse than anyone, but there are worse scumbag animal abusers than this one. They did make an effort to get the poor creature to a facility (unfortunately not soon enough) and as was previously mentioned the dog's illness probably contributed to the malnutrition.

I'm not familiar with necrotizing entercolitis, but I agree that if the dog was very sick the guy could have been trying home remedies first and just waited too long.

But if the necrotizing entercolitis developed because of being starved that is different.

A well fed, well cared for animal can develop pancreatitis and die from dehydration well before they become emaciated. It's the emaciated part that is worrisome - this had been going on for a while.

cDVF9 Wrote:
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> I probably hate animal abusers worse than anyone,
> but there are worse scumbag animal abusers than
> this one. They did make an effort to get the poor
> creature to a facility (unfortunately not soon
> enough) and as was previously mentioned the dog's
> illness probably contributed to the malnutrition.

The pup was probably pretty fucked from the start, probably had parvo too

fuck those at the VA animal control and rescue.

their bureaucracy is bullshit.

they couldn't give one less of a fuck about problems with people and their pets and other situations with animals.

nothing's changed in years, won't happen any time soon.