Cable Collar Was Embedded in Dog's Skin in Forsyth

A Gainesville woman has been arrested on an animal cruelty charge after Forsyth County authorities last week found a dog with a cable embedded in its neck, said sheriff's office spokesman Doug Rainwater.

A passerby spotted the Jack Russell terrier mix at the Porter Lane home in Gainesville "in the same spot, every day and every night," and on Wednesday, Oct. 30, reported to authorities the alleged animal cruelty, according to Rainwater and the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office incident report.

"I walked into the front yard and observed a brown in color male Jack Russell mix lying on the ground. There was a large plate of what looked like several different leftover dinners and an empty white bowl next to the dog," a deputy wrote in the report. "There was no shelter or shade for the dog. The dog’s ribs were showing and it was somewhat skittish. 

"The dog was tethered via a red in color plastic coated tie out cable. The cable was attached to a cork screw style stake in the ground. The cable was wrapped around the dog’s neck and was clipped back to itself. As I looked closer at the cable, I could see the clip attached to the cable but I could not see the cable around the dog’s neck. The cable was embedded into the dog’s skin and it appeared the skin was growing back over it."

The dog was rushed to a veterinarian and underwent emergency surgery to remove portions of the cable collar that were surrounded by its skin, Rainwater said, adding it likely had not been fed in a week.

Authorities spoke to several people who were living in the house, one of whom said she had been caring for the dog during the previous week, but had not noticed the collar. 

The dog's owner, Melinda Barahona, 48, of Gainesville, arrived a short time later, and told police she was homeless and had not seen the dog in about a week.

"I explained the dog was in bad shape and this type of injury takes more than a week to happen," the deputy reported. "Mrs. Barahona could not provide any explanation for the dog’s condition."

She said the dog had followed her children home about 8 years ago, but didn't say how long it had been chained, according to the report and Rainwater. Barahona, who was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty, was arrested and jailed. 

She made bond the same day, report Access North Georgia. The dog— expected to make a full recovery—is eating and will be placed in a home.

At trial, authorities are going to ask that Barahona has no further contact with animals, Rainwater told Access North Georgia.

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