(WXYZ) — They're the heartbreaking stories of people failing the pets they once promised to love, and the volunteers and vets at Woodhaven Animal Hospital have seen it all when it comes to abuse.
Dr. Lucretia Grear has extensive experience when it comes to saving animals from abuse. More than two decades of it. She said, the problem is only getting worse.
"Generally a month doesn't go by, even a couple weeks doesn't go by and we're dealing with some form of abuse or neglect," Grear said.
One of her most recent rescues was a tiny chihuahua named Minnie, who had to have one of her eyes removed after suffering severe abuse.
Her new owner, Lori, is looking forward to giving her a new home.
"I feel bad that there's people out there that will do this to animals and be able to sleep at night," Lori said. "Instead of getting a puppy, go get one that has some kind of disability and help them. Give them another chance."
But Minnie is just one of many animals in the metro Detroit area that Grear is stitching back up.
Another recent rescue is a German Shepherd named Maddie. Her leg needed to be amputed after she was dumped and then hit by a car. Romulus Animal Control Officer Rachel Ohneck adopted her.
"Just wanted to give her a loving home, make sure she was okay," Ohneck said.
I asked Ohneck what they're seeing at the Romulus Animal Shelter.
"Just a lot of malnourishment. A lot of people haven't come and claimed their dogs even when they're microchipped. Financially, I don't think people can afford their animals anymore," she said.
Grear believes the issue began in 2020.
"I think a lot of people got new pets because of COVID-19 and feeling like they had time and then with the economy and everything and just the expense," she said. "The reality of having these animals kind of set in and then people realized you know what, maybe this isn't a good idea."
The numbers reflect that. According to Michigan Incident Crime Reporting, there's been an almost 90% increase in the number of cruelty cases.
"We started out just servicing Wayne County. By now we service the entire Detroit area and probably beyond that," Woodhaven Mayor Patricia Odette said.
Odette is helping save as many animals as she can by creating a nonprofit called Animal Resource Funding Foundation, better
known as ARFF, to support reduces.
"I've probably seen and my organization has seen the worst of the worst," Odette said.
"Do you think that if the repercussions were stronger then maybe people would stop?" I asked.
"I would like to think that but then the resources are a problem right. That would be hiring more prosecutors just for animals and I'm all for that but at the end of the day, there's money constraints," she said.
Money constraints, as well as time constraints, according to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
"We have an over-abundance of homicides we have to look at, we have, you know, we have 10,000 domestic violence warrants that come in just in domestic violence, we have over 500 that come in on child abuse. So, we really have to use our resources the best we can," Worthy said.
The assistant prosecutors in the Animal Protection Unit volunteer to do the cases along with their other work.
Worthy said she's been trying for years to strengthen animal cruelty laws.
"I think that we are much better off than we were before, but of course, the laws could be more stringent as well," she said.
