Poor Foxy, Silky Terrier

[Pea-n-Me]

Police: Woman Tried To Drown Dog At Beach
Cohasset Woman Faces Animal Cruelty Charges

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BOSTON (CBS) – She’s still a little timid, but Foxy the terrier is doing great tonight.

“Far better than expected,” according to Martha Smith-Blackmore, with the Animal Rescue League of Boston. “She went through horrible trauma and for any dog to survive that it’s a miracle, but for a 14-year-old dog to survive that it’s really incredible.”

State Police say on Tuesday night Foxy’s owner, 60-year-old Barbara O’Driscoll of Cohasset, tried to drown the 12 pound pup at Nantasket Beach.

“It’s reprehensible, it’s horrifying, it’s terribly sad,” said Smith-Blackmore. “It’s sad of course from Foxy’s perspective, but I also have concerns for a person that is so sick, they’re potentially doing something like this.”

An eyewitness says she watched O’Driscoll drag Foxy by her leash into the ocean around 4:45 on Tuesday afternoon. The witness told police that O’Driscoll went up to her chest — little Foxy underwater and unable to swim, for several minutes, until the eyewitness says O’Driscoll pulled the dog’s lifeless body onto the shore and eventually up to her car.

That witness flagged down State Trooper Matthew Waples, who happened to be doing a routine patrol of the parking lot.

“When I saw the dog it was in the back seat of the car in the parking lot and the dog appeared to be dead,” Waples said. The trooper said O’Driscoll’s breath smelled of alcohol and she was not making coherent comments.

“She wasn’t really making too much sense at that point in time,” he explained. Published reports indicate that when asked why she had tried to drown her dog, O’Driscoll kept repeating, “It’s just a dog”.

Hull’s animal control officer, Leslie Badger, raced to the scene, grabbed Foxy, and headed to the South Shore Animal Hospital in Weymouth. But on the way, Foxy’s soft heartbeat started to fade.

“I kept my hand on her and as I was driving down the road I could feel that it was getting even less and less of a heartbeat,” she says.

Badger made the decision to pull over on the side of the road and, “administer CPR on the dog, both chest compressions and mouth to mouth, or mouth to snout as everyone likes to say.”

Foxy coughed up seawater and sand — and hung on just long enough.

She is now spending time in a special oxygen-rich cage, with an I-V drip in her leg. Her doctors say she had made a remarkable recovery but is not yet out of the woods. Her medical care, paid by the Animal Rescue League of Boston, is expected to cost between $6,000 and $8,000.

“She’s a really sweet dog,” adds Martha Smith-Blackmore with the Animal Rescue League of Boston. “She’s really nice, very quiet, very calm, and doesn’t seem to be ruffled by all the activity in the ICU.”

WBZ tried to contact O’Driscoll at her Cohasset home, but no one answered the door. A neighbor tells us Foxy actually belongs to O’Driscoll’s elderly father.

In any event, the dog will not be going back there. Foxy will likely be placed in a doggy-foster home until a suitable home is found.

O’Driscoll faces charges that include animal cruelty.

Video in link http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/08/03/police-say-woman-tried-to-drown-dog-at-nantasket-beach/

Glad to know there are still heros for animals out there!

(And hopefully this woman will be getting any help she needs, too.)

 

[CathrynRose]

Geez!

I wonder how much abuse this dog has suffered the last 12 years.

 

[LuLuO]

I cannot post what I am thinking.

 

[bellebud]

And hopefully this woman will be getting any help she needs, too.

I volunteer to "help" this woman!

 

[minkydog]

I think this woman's father better watch his back.

 

[HeatherH]

Okay, someone needs to drag her into the ocean on a leash...

 

[DWGal210]

I volunteer to "help" this woman!

Count me in on that "help"!

 

[marcemc]

She said "it's just a dog"

Let's try drowning her while saying :"oh, it's just you"

 

[Jennasis]

The woman sounds mentally unstable. Hope she's found guilty and levied with the stiffest punishment allowed.

 

[LexiC123]

It breaks my heart to read about so many instances of animal cruelty this summer.

If there's any justice in the world, these abusers should be treated just as cruelly if convicted of these heinous acts.

I know that will never happen, but a girl can hope.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I felt so awful when I heard this on the local news. I was thrilled to hear the dog was ok.

It is an extremely crowded beach in the summer. I can't believe nobody stopped it when it was happening.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I will post any updates if I hear them.

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

I don't see how people do this
I start crying if I accidentally step on my dog!

 

[Katieinwonderland]

That poor dog. What is wrong with people?

I sort of wonder, why didn't the eyewitness step in? They said they witnessed the whole thing. If I saw someone drag a dog into the ocean and leave it underwater, I wouldn't just stand there.

 

[lakelandgal70]

After being in rescue for many years and hearing stories like this I just really can't stand most humans. How can you intentionally hurt something that is living and breathing. I will never understand. Thank goodness for the lady that stepped in!

 

[lakelandgal70]

I don't see how people do this
I start crying if I accidentally step on my dog!

Yeah same here. We have weiner dogs and they get underfoot a lot so I sometimes might step on them or bump them with my shoe. I feel bad all day.

 

[Magpie]

According to one commentator on the story (from the link in the OP)...

UPDATE: My husband is friends with the Trooper who made the arrest. Apparently, the father was abusing the dog — he used to kick it and throw things at it. And according to the ARL, the dog has an inoperable bladder tumor. Too bad the woman couldn’t have just taken the dog to the shelter or a vet and asked to put the dog down peacefully, vs. dragging it into the ocean. I’m glad the dog is alive, but with that bladder condition, no one will want to adopt him — apparently he pees all over the house. So sad.

Here's hoping that they find a decent foster home for the remainder of this dog's short life. One of my cats had kidney disease and became incontinent. We ended up putting a diaper on her (which is something I NEVER thought I'd do, but she honestly didn't seem to mind).

As for why the original witness didn't step in personally and instead chose to flag down the state trooper... for all we know, the woman trying to drown the dog was large and intimidating, as well as being drunk, and the witness was small and afraid. Certainly, based on the short video I saw, there may not have been anyone else close enough to see exactly what what was going on, on that stretch of beach (and besides, who pays any attention to strangers, when you're having fun in the water with your friends and family?).

 

[lakelandgal70]

According to one commentator on the story (from the link in the OP)...



Here's hoping that they find a decent foster home for the remainder of this dog's short life. One of my cats had kidney disease and became incontinent. We ended up putting a diaper on her (which is something I NEVER thought I'd do, but she honestly didn't seem to mind).

As for why the original witness didn't step in personally and instead chose to flag down the state trooper... for all we know, the woman trying to drown the dog was large and intimidating, as well as being drunk, and the witness was small and afraid. Certainly, based on the short video I saw, there may not have been anyone else close enough to see exactly what what was going on, on that stretch of beach (and besides, who pays any attention to strangers, when you're having fun in the water with your friends and family?).

That just makes me very sad I hope that dog is able to live out his life in peace and quiet. Diapers, pee pads one can do it with a incontinent animal. What is gonna happen when those ex owners loose control of their bladders? Are they gonna start beating each other. I swear people are the animals!

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

Yeah same here. We have weiner dogs and they get underfoot a lot so I sometimes might step on them or bump them with my shoe. I feel bad all day.

I have one too and he gets under my feet and I will be walking and kick him and I keep saying "IM SO SORRY!!"

 

[lakelandgal70]

I have one too and he gets under my feet and I will be walking and kick him and I keep saying "IM SO SORRY!!"

Aww they are such little buggers! I will always look down and see where everyone is at but sometimes they are much faster than me hehe