An American bulldog who suffered a brutal beating at the hands of her previous owner for chewing the TV remote has been adopted into a loving home.
A witness called the RSPCA when they heard Kia yelping and said they heard a man shouting at her, hitting her in the face, stamping on her, and picking something up from the ground and hitting her twice in the head with it.
Within two hours of receiving the call an inspector from the charity arrived at the Rochdale property accompanied by police.
They found the dog standing outside in the dark alone with visible injuries to her head and face.
Her eyes were red and bloodshot and there was a cut above her left eye, which was bleeding and she also had some red marks on her face and ears.
RSPCA Inspector Beth Fazackerley, who investigated the incident, said she can remember the day like it was yesterday.
“Kia just stood there in the garden and looked at us. She wasn’t barking or growling. Because all the injuries were to her face and neck, I think she would have been a bit dazed and probably wouldn’t have known what was going on.
“She was walking low to the ground, her tail was tucked under, her ears were back and her head was down, but her eyes were looking up. I had to pick her up and she went a bit limp in our arms.
“It was as if she was saying, ‘I’m not going to fight this’.”
The RSPCA said Kia lived most of her life outside in the yard of the terraced house where she had a little outbuilding and an area cornered off by a metal gate.
The owner told inspectors she was allowed inside the house, but he said he got her to train her up as a guard dog and kept her in the garden to protect the home – but she was too soft and nice to everyone.
Kia was treated by a vet for swelling to the left-hand side of her face.
Her left eye was protruding, and she had bruising to the white area of her left eye, inside her mouth and above her upper incisors.
There was further bruising to her chin, neck and ears and she had a fractured tooth.
Kia stayed in hospital for two nights before being transferred to the RSPCA’s Preston branch for ongoing care.
Fazackerley said of all the cases she has worked on this one has had the most impact on her, and she and Kia developed a strong bond.
The RSPCA worker even spent some of her free time at the weekends travelling to the kennels to take the puppy out for long quiet walks in the hills.
After months of waiting Kia’s owner finally signed her over to the RSPCA which meant she could be adopted – and Fazackerley and kennel staff cried tears of relief.
“I thought she’s going to be okay now, she never has to go back to that garden. You always worry – what if she has to go back? So, when you get that news it’s the best part of any investigation.”
Kia has now been adopted by a family in Lancashire.
Kia’s previous owner pled guilty in court and received a five-year ban on all animals, a curfew with tagging and a community order for 12 months.
Fazackerley added: “I’m so grateful to the person who called in, I’m glad they found the courage and trusted us to go and get her.
“If that person hadn’t have called, Kia would have just been sat there in pain in the cold on her own.”
Kia’s new owners Emily and Seth have two children, Soren, five, and Saben, two, and mum Emily says Kia is great with the kids.
“She’s gentle and chilled with them. She’s settled in as part of our family now and we have spent this Christmas spoiling her rotten.”
Sadly, this kind of cruelty is seen more and more by the RSPCA following an increase in pet ownership during lockdown.
