SACRAMENTO, CA - A puppy that was trapped under a truck and injured last week is back home.
Thursday, after meeting with animal control investigators, the owner got his puppy back, but not everyone was happy about that.
Witnesses said they rescued the puppy, but the owner says he thought someone stole his dog. Animal control says it was all a big misunderstanding and an opportunity to show the right way to care for a dog.
The 4-month old puppy now known as "Bravo" arrived at the animal shelter secured in a crate in the back of an SUV. That was much safer than how Juan Mora had the puppy chained in the back of his pickup truck when Bravo was injured last week. With the chain too long, the dog fell out, and somehow got stuck under a tire.
"This is a good experience. I know something new, so I want to take care about, more carefully about my dog," Mora, the pit bull's owner, said.
What he learned was the proper way to secure his animal.
"Yes, I'm going to secure inside the truck now," Mora said.
That's exactly what Sacramento animal control officers wanted to hear before they agreed to return Bravo.
"He's a new dog owner, didn't know any better, and there are tons of people out there like that don't know any better. But once you teach them, they do the right thing," shelter manager Gina Knepp said about Mora.
Some still don't like that Mora got his dod back. Once Bravo was freed from under the tire, Mora says he simply went to park his truck, but when he drove away, witnesses thought he'd abandoned the dog, so they brought him to Dawn Capp at Chako Pit Bull Rescue.
Mora says he was surprised to come back and discover his dog, along with the women who'd helped rescue it, were gone.
"I ask, 'hey, where's the lady at?' It's not here anymore, so the lady stole my dog, so I need to talk with the lady, why she take my puppy," Mora explained.
"Some very well-intentioned people saw something happening to a dog and reacted, and then we have a dog owner whose communication with them was not as good as it could have been," Knepp said.
In the end, Bravo left the shelter in his owner's arms, and even those disappointed with the outcome could find a silver lining.
"I don't think he'll be chaining him in the back of a pick-up truck after all this, and so that's one good thing that can possibly come out of it," Capp said.
The animal shelter says they're going to make sure Bravo is neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and collared with an ID tag, all free of charge.
by Gabriel Roxas, GRoxas@news10.net
News10/KXTV