Animal advocates from Miami-Dade and Broward counties met on Saturday to talk about the need to help an injured dog they named Mellow.
The leaders of the Brandy Hunter Foundation, a North Miami Beach-based nonprofit organization, and the iHeart Animal Rescue, a Fort Lauderdale-based nonprofit organization, said they are working to help the Rottweiler.
“He was shot, a gunshot wound that went through his front leg, just yesterday,” said Cindy Mucciaccio, the founder of the iHeart Animal Rescue.
The advocates said there is an increase in animal abuse cases in South Florida. Josh Fox, the executive director of the nonprofit organization, said there is a need to raise awareness and find solutions.
“Unfortunately is happening more and more. We are getting those emergency phone calls,” Fox said on Saturday.
In the case of Mellow, Mucciaccio said she didn’t want his leg to be amputated, so she asked the Sunshine Animal Hospital, at 9800 Pines Boulevard, in Pembroke Pines, and the Brandy Hunter Foundation’s advocates for help to cover the cost of surgery.
“We wanted to step in and save the quality of life of this dog,” Fox said.
Eric Lerner, the nonprofit organization’s director of special projects, said they were proud to partner with iHeart Animal Rescue. Paige Bresky, the nonprofit organization’s vice president of marketing, said this is because the foundation aims to “support the voiceless and the vulnerable.”
“We are seeing an escalation of violence towards pets right now,” Bresky said.
For more information about contributing to the effort, visit the pages of the Brandy Hunter Foundation and the iHeart Animal Rescue organizations.
Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.
Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Joyce Grace Ortega contributed to this report.