Andrea Rosebrock 
Last September a horrifically starved dog was found dumped in a clothing donation bin in Hyde Park in the parking lot of the Stop and Shop on St. Andrews Road. Luckily she was found in time and although it was a long hard road back to health for this sweet little girl, she rallied and Sally, as she was named, short for Salvation, became more than just a starved dog, she became a symbol and a face of all the starved and abused dogs. She visited and showed off at Marist College where students will use Sally’s example as a starting point to develop a public relations campaign to prevent animal abuse.
She helped Dutchess County SPCA host a food drive. And best of all, she was adopted into a wonderful home!
As wonderful as the fact that she survived, what is amazing is that police actually caught and prosecuted the heartless piece of trash who starved and dumped her! Gary Lee Rhodes, 28, of Poughkeepsie was the owner of Sally and as result of a joint investigation between the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, Dutchess County SPCA Law Enforcement Unit, City of Poughkeepsie Police and the Dutchess County Field Intelligence Group he was apprehended and arrested.
In November Rhodes entered a plea of guilty and yesterday he was sentenced. The max sentenced for the misdemeanor charge was a year in jail and Hyde Park Town Justice David Steinberg sentenced him to 8 months. I would have liked to see the full year sentence imposed but this is more than the usual slap on the wrist we too often see.
All in all I’m pretty pleased with the ending of this story; Sally recovererd and adopted into a wonderful loving home and the trash that starved and dumped her will be spending some time behind bars.
What a wonderful story of survival for Sally. That she has become the poster child for starved and abused dogs is a big step in the right direction.
I must momend the law officials that did such a great job of tracking down the scumbag that did this. Most times they don’t go to tht lenght to catch the people responsible.
Hopefully with all the people behind the eight ball the politicians will get the message and pass tougher laws.
good news is always wellcome, thanks All animal advocates, love to Sally and family!!!
Yippee Sally! And what a beautiful girl to have as a “poster dog” for animal abuse and neglect! As the old commercial says “You’ve come a long way baby!”
It is nice to hear that some judges are holding to their guns and imposing stiffer sentences, and not just the slap on the wrist. Maybe this will be a start in the right direction for all judicial systems to treat animal abusers as the criminals that they really are, and hold to tougher laws and even tougher sentences.
We can only hope, Susie! It would be nice if more judges took a lesson from those who actually look at animal abuse and see it for the serious crime that it really is. They have to stop seeing it as a crime against “just a dog” or any animal and see it as a precursor as crimes against people, not that crimes against animals should be tolerated anyway but if looking at it as the potential of future crimes against human beings is the only way to make people take it seriously then by all mean let them use that as the barometer with which to judge by.
And yeah, I am just tickled about Sally, what a sweet and beautiful girl and how amazing that she survived and has come so far! Aside from her own strong will, many thanks go to the wonderfully dedicated people who worked so hard to care for her and who loved her, brought her from the brink of death and delivered her to her wonderful new life.
D.
Sally appears to be a little pitbull. This is further proof that humans are a far greater danger to pitbulls than vice versa. Hopefully the scumbag who did this to her will be housed in a cell with a big guy who loves animals.
She’a a darlin’! What a sweet face. I am so happy she now has a good, loving home. She will be a most terrific poster pup. WTG toeveryone that helped to save her, get her to a good recovery and those that took the time to find the ars that did this. May that POS rot in hell for tis. Good luck Sally and hold your head high for all those to see that you are a survivor!
I’M GLAD THIS POS GOT WHAT HE DESERVED. AND THAT SALLY NOW HAS A NEW LOVING FOREVER HOME.WHOO HOO WTG SALLY.
Just look at Sally, how could you not love her. And KUDOS to the judge that sentenced this scumbag. I too hope he gets a cell with a person that truly loves animals. Bend over POS and get what’s comin’ to ya.
Not only do tougher laws need to be passed calling for harsher sentences for any kind of animal cruelty, but there needs to be laws passed requiring background checks for anyone adopting or purchasing an animal. I believe most states require background checks before purchasing firearms. Personally, I think a more thorough background check should be done when anyone wants to acquire an animal than what is required to purchase a gun.
Charlie, it is funny you say that about background checks. I also believe that. I know many breeders personally that do background checks on people who want to purchase one of their pups or one of their older trained dogs they might have for sale. On my independent rescue forms, I have had people tell me it is more difficult to adopt a dog than it is to adopt a child.
Our judicial system needs to recognize that animal abusers are just as dangerous if not more dangerous than someone who uses a gun.