That’s difficult, though, when the dog, Ripley, jumps up on Kalvig’s chair and licks her face.
“He’s so loving,” she said with a laugh. “He’s very forgiving and loving, and he’ll just crawl up into your lap and hug himself to you. We just really like him. We wouldn’t give him up for anything. He’s a great little dog.”
“He’s in a home that thinks the world of him,” said Tracy Hamand, manager of the Humane Society of North Iowa in Mason City.
That’s in sharp contrast to the day last March when Ripley, then less than a year old, was found tied to a tree outside the shelter.
He was somewhat thin and had trouble breathing. His owners had wrapped a heavy rubber band around his snout, apparently to keep Ripley from barking.
The band cut off circulation in the snout. The end of the snout swelled up like a tennis ball, and Ripley almost lost his nose. In that case, Hamand said, he would have been euthanized.
She said it’s the worst case of animal abuse or neglect she has seen in North Iowa.
“I’m thinking a rubber band around the nose is not an appropriate action for a barking dog,” Hamand said. “And you know what? They could have tied that dog to my door before they had to harm it. He didn’t deserve what he got.”
Roger Crimmins, executive director of the Humane Society of North Iowa, said, “It’s horrible how people can treat animals in such a way. If you don’t want the animal, there are alternatives. There’s just no fathoming it. You look at that and you look inside yourself and you go, ‘How?’ ‘Why?’ ”
Hamand said she’s seeing abuse and neglect cases frequently, “because people aren’t held accountable for their actions.”
“It reflects poorly on our adults and children,” she said, “just in what we’re willing to put up with.”
Iowa law states that animal neglect is a simple misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine of $50 to $500.
Animal neglect resulting in serious injury or death is a serious misdemeanor, punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a fine of $250 to $1,500.
Fines were increased in the 2007 Iowa Code.
“Obviously, I don’t think it’s enough,” Hamand said. “Animal laws aren’t prosecuted like they are on Animal Planet (in the TV show, ‘Animal Cops’). And that’s what’s frustrating with Iowa, is that we have not started to prosecute like other states have.”
There have been 87 cases of animal abuse and neglect reported in Iowa since 2000, according to www.pet-abuse.com. The worst of those years was 2006, with 26 cases — seven involving neglect or abandonment.
Reported cases also include beating, hoarding, hanging, fighting, shooting, theft, burning with fire or fireworks, poisoning and stabbing of animals.
Among other recent North Iowa cases:
q Miracle, a yellow-and-white Lab mix, was found shot through the roof of the mouth in January of 2005, in a field in West Fork Township in northeast Franklin County. No one has been charged.
Miracle recovered after three surgeries. She lives with Stacy Rooney, president of the Humane Society of North Iowa Board.
q Baby, a female Lab mix, was left outside in inadequate shelter with no bedding at her Cerro Gordo County residence. She awaits adoption at the Humane Society.
q Repeat, an adult German shepherd/Rottweiler mix, is in foster care in Mason City. Hamand said he was found emaciated, a good 40 pounds underweight.
q In late January 2006, members of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department found 15 dogs, 20 cats, two horses and a corn snake at a home near Meservey.
Many of the animals were living out in the cold, among dead and live rats. One kennel housed 10 to 12 puppies.
“It was disgusting,” Hamand said. “Unhealthy living conditions for people, let alone animals. The kennels hadn’t been cleaned in months, probably.”
Two people were charged in Cerro Gordo County District Court in regard to Ripley’s case.
Kristin R. Jacobson, 48, of Mason City, was sentenced Friday to three days in jail and a $100 fine for animal neglect.
In the same case, James Jay Halsne, 60, also of Mason City, will be sentenced Tuesday, Feb. 13, on charges of accessory after the fact.
Meanwhile, Carolyn Kalvig reports that Ripley is doing well.
He likes a good bath, and is “very protective” of her and Carl.
“Whoever in this world would ever do anything like that to an animal, to me, I think the same thing should be done to them,” Carolyn said. “There are things out there that you can buy to stop dogs from barking. I can’t imagine why someone would want to do something like that to him.”
Reach Dick Johnson at 421-0556 or dick.johnson@globegazette.com.
