Andrea Rosebrock 
When I first read this story two months ago, it just broke my heart. Kristy Knecht abandoned two dogs, a German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois, in a house for months. By the time Animal Control officers were on the scene, one dog, the German Shepherd had died and Neeko, the Belgian Malinois, was near death. He survived only by eating the corpse of his shepherd companion.
Now, eight weeks later, I wanted to give you an update on both Neeko and Knecht, who was charged with two felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals.
Neeko, who weighed barely 30 pounds when he was found which was an alarming difference from the 80 pounds he weighed when Knecht got him on July 1, is slowly but surely recovering.
It was eight weeks ago when Alameda East physical therapist Tammy Wolfe first laid eyes on Neeko, a sweet faced Belgium Malinois on the verge of death.
“It yanks at my heart every time I see him and I see him twice a day,” said Wolfe.
Wolfe was called in to help get Neeko strong again. Doctors say the dog was nearly starved to death. When he showed up at Alameda East Animal Hospital in August he was severely underweight and unable to stand.
“I cried when I first saw him, he was so pathetic, it was like I was starting with nothing almost,” Wolfe said.
Nursing Neeko back to health has been a slow process.
“He’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to get wet if I don’t have to,’” said Wolfe.
Five weeks ago, Wolfe started hydrotherapy with Neeko to get him better, faster.
“It’s easy on his joints and gives him good resistance and he gets a good strengthening and cardiovascular workout,” explained Wolfe.
Neeko’s doctors hope he puts on two pounds a week to get back to a healthy weight. Right now, the upbeat dog is halfway to his goal.
“Every time I see him I’m in awe,” said Wolfe.
Neeko’s owner, Kristy Knecth, was back in court on Wednesday. An Arapahoe district judge ordered Knecht not to have any animals or unsupervised contact with children under 18. Knecht is charged with felony animal cruelty. Her next court appearance is set for November. (9News)
The Class 6 felonies which Knecht is charged with, carry a penalty ranging from one year to 18 months for each count plus up to $100,000 in fines on each count. Even if convicted and sentenced to the maximum, which seldom ever happens, this will not even begin to come close to justice for the cruelties she inflicted upon those poor dogs, one whose life was so cruelly cut short and Neeko, who still faces many months of recovery and will possibly never be completely healthy again!
[...] wagged his tail and looked in the eyes of his rescuers and they decided to give him a chance. After five months of care, much of it round the clock and thousands and thousands of dollars, Neeko made a recovery that was [...]