DALLAS — Things are looking up for the 1-year-old German Shepherd whose disposal was captured on surveillance cameras in southern Dallas. The opposite would appear to be true for the man accused of abandoning the animal early last month.
The dog, formerly called "Max" but renamed "Amos" by Jeremy Boss of the Dowdy Ferry Animal Commission, is now in the care of City Vet Preston Forest in north Dallas. Held for several weeks in the custody of Dallas Animal Services after its rescue, the dog has a mild respiratory infection that veterinarian Dr. Erin Tate expects to be treated successfully with antibiotics.
Last month, Dowdy Ferry Animal Commission surveillance cameras captured a man parked along the side of Teagarden Road near Dowdy Ferry Road. He pulled the German Shepherd from the vehicle, got back inside and drove away. The animal, in a scene that shocked people across the country, attempted to follow as the man drove away. Neighbors who watched the incident rescued the dog and held it until Dallas Animal Services could recover the animal.
"To dump it on the side of the road like a piece of trash, that's just heartless and cruel," said City Vet Preston Forest veterinarian Dr. Erin Tate. "There are so many shelters and organizations willing to rescue animals. You don't have to treat them like that."
"There's so many people that reached out from all over the United States asking and inquiring about Amos," said Jeremy Boss who visited the dog at the vet clinic on Monday. Boss, whose cameras watch over the notorious animal-disposal area that Dowdy Ferry sometimes still seems to be, is happy to share - for a change - a Dowdy story with a happy ending. He is working with the IF Dogs organization to find Amos a new home.
"This is why I keep on going. Amos is one of the reasons I keep on going," Boss said. "We finally get an interview where I'm actually smiling and tearing up because he's a precious baby that did not need to be discarded. He's going to have an amazing home."
Meanwhile, the suspect in the case whom investigators say was identified by his own family in the surveillance video was arrested and initially held in the Dallas County Jail on a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty. Records now show that Ramiro Zuniga, 41, is being held in a federal facility in Alvarado, his immigration status in question.