Sweetie, a husky in Merced, California, was reported to police as far back as last November. Witnesses said they saw her lifted off the ground by her neck and slammed onto concrete outside a store. Others later described watching her dragged on hot pavement behind a bicycle, so exhausted she could barely keep running. For months, Sweetie kept being returned to the same home, until more witnesses came forward with photos and video, and she was finally taken into protective custody.
Sign the petition urging the Merced County District Attorney's Office to pursue a lifetime ban on animal ownership and mandatory mental health counseling in this case.
Each time concerns were reported, welfare checks found Sweetie fed and watered at that moment, so she went back to the same situation again and again. It was not until a wave of public pressure, including a rally outside the District Attorney's Office, that Sweetie was finally placed somewhere safe. She is now reported to be doing well, eating, and no longer cowering.
A lifetime ban on owning or caring for animals would make sure Sweetie never has to go back to a home where her safety depended on the next welfare check catching what the last one missed. Mandatory mental health counseling addresses what led to this pattern in the first place, offering real support while making sure no other animal is left waiting months for someone to intervene.
Sweetie waited far too long for someone to protect her. Sign the petition and demand the Merced County District Attorney's Office pursue a lifetime ban and mandatory counseling in this case.
