SPCA of Texas rescues abandoned dogs in freezing temperatures, woman arrested
Houston County PD investigating after 14 stolen cattle found, 8 dead, in abandoned trailer
'An Investigator with the SPCA of Texas' Animal Cruelty Investigations (ACI) Unit responded to the property and discovered two adult dogs on a couch that was sitting outside by the curb,' the SPCA of Texas said. 'At the time, in this area, it was 23 degrees Fahrenheit with wind chills in the teens and the dogs were shivering due to the extreme cold without any protection from the elements.'
Officials determined that both dogs needed urgent care due to the freezing temperatures and visible medical issues they were suffering. The investigator took custody of the dogs and transported them to their Dallas facility where they obtained immediate veterinary care.
'One of the dogs, an adult Rottweiler, had an untreated ruptured eyeball that was oozing, infected and painful,' the SPCA of Texas said. 'The other dog was covered in tumor-like masses. Both dogs were infested with fleas, causing raw and itchy skin and they both had advanced stages of dental disease.'
The dogs received treatment for pain control and will be monitored closely during their recovery process.
CAUGHT ON CAMERA: East Texas man arrested for dumping cat at Trinity gas station
'Both dogs have a long road to recovery ahead of them, but they are in good spirits, and we are looking forward to the day that they are able to find an adopter to give them the love and care that they deserve.'
On Jan. 21, investigators located the owner, Kathleen Marie Curtis, and obtained warrants for her arrest. She was charged with animal cruelty and abandonment and neglect, her bond was set at $20,000.
The ACI unit responds to thousands of animal cruelty cases each year in Texas rescuing animals like the two dogs in Van Zandt county. Chief Investigator of the SPCA Texas Animal Cruelty Investigations Unit Courtney Burns said cases like these are heartbreaking and people need to be held accountable.
To support the SPCA of Texas' efforts to rescue and find homes for animals from cases of cruelty and neglect people can visit their website.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
5 hours ago
- Newsweek
Owner Arrested After Leaving Dog in Scorching Car To Go to Beach
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A pet owner has been jailed after police in Clearwater, Florida, rescued a French bulldog from a sweltering car at Sand Key Park on Sunday. The dog was left inside with the windows cracked only two inches. The temperature outside was 89 degrees with a heat index of 96. Inside the vehicle, conditions quickly became life-threatening. Officers responding to the scene found the dog panting heavily, with excessive drool coating the back seat. The animal was rushed to a local veterinarian for evaluation, while the owner was arrested. Rob Shaw from the Clearwater Police Department told Newsweek: "The owner was charged with animal cruelty and booked in to the Pinellas County Jail. "The dog was given to the husband of the woman charged. He was not at the scene and came to pick up the dog after it was checked out at a local vet's office." A picture of the dog who was rescued from the hot car. A picture of the dog who was rescued from the hot car. Clearwater Police Department The incident is part of a troubling pattern. Just days earlier, another case involved a cat left locked in a vehicle while its owner went to the beach. "Under no circumstances should you ever leave a pet inside a car during these hot summer days. The results can be deadly," Clearwater Police Department said on Facebook. A Growing Problem Nationwide According to PETA, 371 pets died in cars between 2023-2025, while 1,587 were rescued from cars in the U.S. Total Vet reports that the most common states where these rescues occur include Florida, Ohio, California, Nevada, and New York. The peak danger months are June and July, when rising temperatures and holiday activities often coincide with higher rates of pet abandonment in vehicles. "We published this to bring awareness to the issue of leaving pets in hot cars," Shaw said. We have had two incidents recently where this occurred when people went to the beach. Leaving an animal inside a hot car in the middle of summer can be deadly. We're trying to educate people to not make those mistakes." Cars Heat Up Fast Research has long shown how dangerous parked cars can be for pets. Animals left in hot cars can die in as little as twenty minutes, even with a window cracked open. A 2005 study from the Stanford University School of Medicine found that on a sunny day, the interior of a parked car can heat up by an average of 40 degrees Fahrenheit within an hour, regardless of the outside temperature. Eighty percent of that increase occurs within the first 30 minutes. The study also revealed that common precautions—such as cracking a window or briefly running the air conditioner before parking—have little to no effect on the rate of heating. Dr. Catherine McLaren, lead author of the study, emphasized that tragedies can happen even on mild days: "There are cases of children dying on days as cool as 70 degrees Fahrenheit," she said. Earlier this month millions of people were issued warnings across the U.S. by the National Weather Service (NWS) in relation to "heat related illnesses that increase significantly during extreme heat." These include prolonged exposure to heat, including being in hot vehicles, with particular concerns for vulnerable groups like children, pets and the elderly.
Politico
3 days ago
- Politico
Israel prepares to move Palestinians to southern Gaza as Israelis urge mass protest over war
Families of hostages fear the coming offensive further endangers the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, just 20 of them thought to still be alive. They and other Israelis were horrified by the recent release of videos showing emaciated hostages speaking under duress and pleading for help and food. The families and supporters have pressed the government for a deal to stop the war — a call that some former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs have made as well in recent weeks. A group representing the families has urged Israelis into the streets on Sunday. 'Across the country, hundreds of citizen-led initiatives will pause daily life and join the most just and moral struggle: the struggle to bring all 50 hostages home,' it said in a statement. 'I want to believe that there is hope, and it will not come from above, it will come only from us,' said Dana Silberman Sitton, sister of Shiri Bibas and aunt of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were killed in captivity. She spoke at a weekly rally in Tel Aviv, along with Pushpa Joshi, sister of kidnapped Nepalese hostage Bipin Joshi, a student seized from a kibbutz. 'I miss my best friend,' Pushpa said. Airstrike kills a baby girl and her parents An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed a baby girl and her parents on Saturday, Nasser hospital officials and witnesses said. Motasem al-Batta, his wife and the girl were killed in their tent in the crowded Muwasi area. 'Two and a half months, what has she done?' neighbor Fathi Shubeir asked, sweating as temperatures in the shattered territory soared above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. 'They are civilians in an area designated safe.' Israel's military said it couldn't comment on the strike without more details. It said it is dismantling Hamas' military capabilities and takes precautions not to harm civilians. Muwasi is one of the heavily populated areas in Gaza where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel plans to widen the coming military offensive, along with Gaza City and 'central camps' — an apparent reference to the built-up Nuseirat and Bureij camps in central Gaza.
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Boston Globe
Israel prepares to move Palestinians to southern Gaza as Israelis urge mass protest over war
Families of hostages fear the coming offensive further endangers the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, just 20 of them thought to still be alive. They and other Israelis were horrified by the recent release of videos showing emaciated hostages speaking under duress and pleading for help and food. The families and supporters have pressed the government for a deal to stop the war — a call that some former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs have made as well in recent weeks. Advertisement A group representing the families has urged Israelis into the streets on Sunday. 'Across the country, hundreds of citizen-led initiatives will pause daily life and join the most just and moral struggle: the struggle to bring all 50 hostages home,' it said in a statement. 'I want to believe that there is hope, and it will not come from above, it will come only from us,' said Dana Silberman Sitton, sister of Shiri Bibas and aunt of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were killed in captivity. Advertisement She spoke at a weekly rally in Tel Aviv, along with Pushpa Joshi, sister of kidnapped Nepalese hostage Bipin Joshi, a student seized from a kibbutz. 'I miss my best friend,' Pushpa said. A Palestinian man carried the body of his 7-year-old nephew Alaa Al-Toum who, according to the family, was killed in an Israeli army airstrike on Friday. Jehad Alshrafi/Associated Press Airstrike kills a baby girl and her parents An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed a baby girl and her parents on Saturday, Nasser hospital officials and witnesses said. Motasem al-Batta, his wife and the girl were killed in their tent in the crowded Muwasi area. 'Two and a half months, what has she done?' neighbor Fathi Shubeir asked, sweating as temperatures in the shattered territory soared above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). 'They are civilians in an area designated safe.' Israel's military said it couldn't comment on the strike without more details. It said it is dismantling Hamas' military capabilities and takes precautions not to harm civilians. Muwasi is one of the heavily populated areas in Gaza where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel plans to widen the coming military offensive, along with Gaza City and 'central camps' — an apparent reference to the built-up Nuseirat and Bureij camps in central Gaza. Israel may be using the threat to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages taken in Elsewhere, an official at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in the Zikim area of northern Gaza, as well as four people killed in shelling. Palestinians struggled to get donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. Jehad Alshrafi/Associated Press 11 more deaths related to malnutrition Another 11 malnutrition-related deaths occurred in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the territory's Health Ministry said Saturday, with one child among them. That brings malnutrition-related deaths during the war to 251. Advertisement The United Nations is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Palestinians are drinking contaminated water as diseases spread, while some Israeli leaders continue to talk openly about the mass relocation of people from Gaza. A 20-year old Palestinian woman described as being in a 'state of severe physical deterioration' died Friday after being transferred from Gaza to Italy for treatment, the hospital said Saturday. The U.N. and partners say getting food and other aid into the territory of over 2 million people, and then on to distribution points, remains highly challenging with Israeli restrictions and pressure from crowds of hungry Palestinians. The U.N. human rights office says at least 1,760 people were killed while seeking aid between May 27 and Wednesday. It says 766 were killed along routes of supply convoys and 994 in the vicinity of 'non-U.N. militarized sites,' a reference to the Israeli-backed and U.S.-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which since May has been the primary distributor of aid in Gaza. People took part in a protest demanding the end of the war, the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv. Mahmoud Illean/Associated Press US stops visitor visas for people from Gaza The U.S. State Department on Saturday said all visitor visas for people from Gaza are being stopped while a review is carried out of how 'a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas' were issued in recent days. The Hamas-led attack in 2023 killed around 1,200 people in Israel. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 61,897 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. Advertisement The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.
