Princess (Photo courtesy of Hamden Patch)
Hamden Animal Control officers were called to the aid of a Terrier mix named Princess. When they arrived on the scene they found Princess, was stabbed a total of 29 times in the chest, stomach and neck. They found her lying in the middle of the driveway. She had already lost a lot of blood and was having trouble breathing because of air that had entered the chest cavity from the stab wounds inflicted by her owner. Animal Control rushed her North Haven Animal Hospital early Wednesday afternoon to see Dr. Wells and his staff in hopes they could save her life. It took time before she was stable enough for her to be taken into surgery to clean up her stab wounds and look at the damage. Princess was stabbed multiple times and the only thought when she arrived was to do anything possible to help her.
The dog’s owner, Alexander Bernard, has been charged with one misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals with $10,000 bail. He told police that no one in his family like the dog and had been giving him a hard time about her, so he decided to stab her. He will most likely loose custody of Princess but that will be determined by the court and and Animal Control. Since her story broke though there have been a ton of people calling the vet and asking to foster her while she heals or adopt her and care for her like the Princess she is.
For now the vet has decided to accept the offers of donations so that local taxpayers don’t have to pay the bill to help treat Princess. North Haven Animal Hospital has said that any money collected that exceeds Princess’s bills will be used to replenish their emergency fund which will now be named after this strong little girl “The Princess Fund,” and be used for other emergencies like hers.
If you would like to make a contribution to Princess’s medical bills can send it to “The Princess Fund,” North Haven Animal Hospital, 386 Washington Ave., North Haven, CT 06473. Checks should be made out to the hospital with “Princess Fund” written in the memo line.
For more information about her story please visit
http://hamden.patch.com/articles/princess-out-of-the-woods-almost
This is so sad! I know I love my dog as if she was my 3rd kid..
Getting the word out.. still and again for Haley – today she is in the hospital receiving yet again another blood transfusion – She needs a bone marrow transplant – Please go to her Facebook page and like it – if you can donate – Please say “I want to donate” and I will contact you with all you need and if you don’t have a FB – that’s okay – please come visit my blog. thank you – Kelly
Haley’s Facebook Page
Because she’s clearly the innocent victim of terrible crime, she’s a “Terrier mix,” but if she had defended herself or lashed out in pain and confusion afterward, she would be the dread “pit bull.” I wish the media would be at least minimally consistent on these things.
I’m glad Princess is being cared for and her owner prosecuted. I trust he will lose custody of her.
Actually I chose to say terrier mix because the reports were inconsistent and some said she was a Pitt Bull Mix while other said she is a Staffordshire Terrier Mix and other said American Bull Dog Mix. Since I can’t see her structure I chose to say terrier mix instead of mislabeling her.
Ah, I assumed the description came from the news story, and the picture is certainly of a dog who is in that broad general category that gets labeled “pit bull” when it bites. My apologies for the misinterpretation!
I appreciate that you chose to do the research instead of mislabeling her. She’s a gorgeous dog either way and I hope she recovers quickly.
Will MOST LIKELY lose custody? I hope that he WILL lose custody. I would also hope that no other animal ever have the misfortunate of being in that “family”. Things like this make me SO MAD!
Is the internet full of such terrible stories lately or is it just me? Clearly we need to expand the capacity of our mental institutions and fill them.