CHICAGO (WLS) — A community on the city’s North Side helped find justice for an abused dog.
A suspect is now facing felony charges.
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It was almost a year ago, when Brianne Coleman was walking her dog Zeus in Edgewater’s Berger Park when Zeus suddenly stopped.
“Zeus was highly distracted by the rocks,” Coleman remarked. “I encouraged him with a look like, ‘Come on, buddy. Let’s move.’ But he simply glanced at me, implying, ‘No, you come here.’
Nestled in the rocks was a 6-month-old lab in very bad shape.
“And I was shocked at first,” Coleman said. “I’m like, ‘Come here dog, are you okay? Are you okay?’ And he just sat there and he didn’t move.”
She took the dog she named Rocky to a vet to get help, where they found out his hips were shattered, and the rest of his body was even worse.
“All of his ribs were mending at various stages,” Coleman explained. “His knees and back legs were severely broken… And he was just six months old. He endured this suffering for a significant time period.”
Coleman engaged with the Edgewater community and launched a GoFundMe campaign, successfully gathering $21,000 to address Rocky’s medical expenses before she secured a new home for him with a couple in Chicago. However, she continued her quest to locate the person responsible for the abuse.
“I wasn’t going to just let this happen, like not do anything,” Coleman said. “And so I started asking neighbors.”
It turns out the dog’s original owner, lived in Coleman’s building, so her and neighbors tracked down surveillance video of the owner with Rocky.
“They had video footage of him leaving the service elevator with the dog and coming back a few minutes later without him,” Coleman said.
Last month, Chicago police arrested 29-year-old Benjamin Wilkins, who now faces felony charges for animal torture and aggravated cruelty to animals.
Coleman said this is all thanks to the community who rallied around Rocky.
“It was from this community, they showed up and showed out,” Coleman said. “And I have never I have never been part of such a beautiful community of people.”
Coleman said Rocky has 90% of his mobility back and that the money left over from the GoFundMe was donated back to local dog organizations.
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