Peoria police are filing animal cruelty charges against a Peoria woman who allowed her pit bull to walk around on a bloody stump for about a year without treating its injuries.
Cops contacted Michelle Busse, 22, on January 7, after someone complained that she had not gotten medical treatment for her dog, Carmela, hit by a car about a year earlier. As a result of that untreated injury, the dog chewed off the lower half of her front right leg and was hobbling on exposed bone and inflected flesh.
Photos of the injuries below.
The Peoria Police Department submitted charges to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office against Busse, now facing a class 6 felony.
Busse told police that while she consulted with a veterinarian and was offered a payment plan by the veterinarian, she did not have the partially severed leg treated.
Busse turned over her dog to Peoria's animal-control unit, which took Carmela to the Peoria Emergency Animal Clinic for treatment. She was later transferred to the Humane Society of Arizona, where a veterinarian amputated the remaining portion Carmela's injured leg.
Since Peoria police are pursuing restitution from Busse for the care provided for the dog by Sun Valley Animal Shelter and the Humane Society of Arizona, Busse would've been better off accepting the payment plan for Camela's care.
But now, she has to both pay for the treatment and face criminal prosecution.