Matilda has forever home; previous owners charged with animal cruelty

BOURBON COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - A Kentucky puppy now has a forever home and her previous owners were charged with animal cruelty.

In January, Matilda, a four-month-old hound dog, was brought to the Paris Animal Welfare Society, or PAWS, after authorities say she was neglected by her owners.

PAWS workers tell us they see dogs brought in all the time, a little underfed with signs they haven’t been treated very well, but none of them were like Matilda.

“It was horrible. She had, like, pressure sores all over her,” said Delaney Green, PAWS. “She was terrified of any human interaction, and obviously just completely and utterly emaciated.”

Maltida weighed just nine pounds when she was brought to PAWS.

Green says she had only been working with PAWS for a few months when Matilda came to them. She said it was a process to nurse Matilda back to health and just as much of a process to get the young pup to trust a human.

“They may not ever physically recover from this or they may not ever mentally recover from this because it’s just like putting a kid through that. It’s a traumatic experience for them, and you know, how can you just move on from that type of abuse and neglect?,” Green said. “Getting her to understand that we’re not going to take your food away from you forever. We’re not going to starve you like you previously were starved. We’re here to get you on the right path and show you the best medicine, some TLC.”

Matilda was adopted in February and her former owners were charged with second-degree animal cruelty. That carries a fine, and probation, and the owners will never be able to own an animal in Kentucky again.

Right now, animal cruelty in Kentucky is a misdemeanor.

State lawmakers worked during the legislative session to make them more strict. Senate Bill 125 aimed to make animal abusers responsible for paying for the animals’ care. The bill didn’t make it through the House.

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