It was named the most brutal abuse case ever. The dog Caitlyn was found with her mouth tied with a band tape – the tape was so tightly tied to her mouth that she was badly injured.
But Caitlyn survived. More than that, the whole world heard of her story and stood beside her.
Lawyer Ted Corvey was determined to prosecute the person who abused her and make him receive the most severe punishment.
The 15-month-old story of Caitlyn made headlines all over the world after she was seriously injured on the balcony of her former owner.
Her former owners sold her to a 41-year-old man for $10. This man had Caitlyn for only a few days when he wounded her so hard that she nearly died.
She ran away from the same person and reached the balcony of her previous owners. When they found her, her mouth was tied for 46-48 hours. She was in a very bad condition.
The band was tied so tightly that the flow of blood to her tongue stopped.
“It’s the worst abuse case I’ve ever seen”, said Aldwin Roman, director of the Charleston Animal Society when he first saw Caitlyn.
Caitlyn suffered so much pain that she could not drink or eat. At first the team did not know if she will survive the injuries, because the large number of dead neurons could cause many complications. Caitlyn underwent several surgeries to save her tongue and mouth.
Luckily, it all ended well for Caitlyn, and today she is alive and happy. She also became a celebrity. She received a great honor from People Magazine, who announced she had the best story of survival for 2015.
The scars left over from the tape still stand out, but she no longer suffers from pain. She is adopted by a loving family and gets everything she needs.
And the story did not end there.
For two long years, lawyer Ted Corvey was fighting for justice for Caitlyn. He was determined that the person who had hurt her would receive the maximum punishment for animal abuse.
In March 2017 he finally succeeded. The 41-year-old man was sentenced to five years in prison plus 15 more years for another crime.
“I think it sends a message… that we will not let things slip anymore”, said Aldwin Roman. And continued:
“We will do everything we can to stop it, and then we will do more and try to change the laws to make them more stringent”.
We think that anyone who abuses an animal should sit behind bars for a long time!
Share the story if you think that there should be more severe and heavier punishments for people who abuse animals.