Case of the painted pooch

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- A naturally blond dog went up for adoption Wednesday,

five days after he was found spray-painted pink at Fairview Road and

Arlington Drive.

The short-haired yellow Labrador mix, probably between 2 and 3 years

old, was found Friday by animal control officers and taken to the Orange

County Humane Society in Huntington Beach. Someone has painted along his

legs and body, and the word “Spike” was painted onto his side, but he

doesn’t answer to the name.

“What was done to him is just cruelty,” said Brigette Simec, a humane

society employee. “When I saw him, I wanted to cry. I couldn’t believe

it. It hurt me, it annoyed me, and it made me sad that someone could come

to that level of thinking. He’s just a really sweet dog, scared out of

his wits. His tail is under his legs, and this doesn’t do much for his

self-esteem. They got him pretty good, and who knows what they did to him

before they painted him?”

Aside from being scared, the dog -- named Higgens by humane society

employees -- is doing well.

“Some animals that have been abused turn mean, but a lot of them

don’t,” Simec said. “They just want to be loved and to do good. This is

just one of those special dogs.”

Simec said that although Higgens is not the only case of animal

cruelty she has seen in her nine months at the humane society, it is the

“loudest” one. Nothing can be done to remove the paint from Higgens’ fur

without endangering him, so he must be surgically shaved to remove his

fur.

The Huntington Beach shelter, which also serves Costa Mesa, deals with

a case of abuse as serious as Higgens’ about once a year, she said.

The punishment for animal cruelty depends on the stress and injury to

the animal, said Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Bob Durham. Higgens’ case --

which had not been reported to the police as of press time -- appears to

be a misdemeanor, which carries a punishment of less than a year in jail,

Durham said.

But Simec said that with Higgens found near Orange Coast College, the

perpetrators could be difficult to find.

“It seems like it could have been anybody,” she said. “Maybe it was a

college prank. In any case, I don’t think retribution is the answer.”

The society is more interested in finding Higgens a good home, she

said.

The ideal home “would probably be one with no teenagers or small

children, because I don’t know what his background was but it was

probably abusive,” Simec said. “But not necessarily an older couple,

because [Higgens] is very strong. Maybe a young twenty- or

thirtysomething couple who wants to run and play with him, that is maybe

not interested in having kids, that is maybe career-oriented but has time

to spend with him. Most importantly, he needs someone who can give him

the love he hasn’t had yet. Somebody nice.”

FYI

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