Montauban. He travels 800 meters with his dog attached to the team, “Bambi” amputated by two phalanges.

The images are chilling, and have been hugely viral on social media. Sunday September 26, 2021 in the evening, the association The 3 Turkeys, which has a farm-refuge in Honor-de-Cos (Tarn-et-Garonne), north of Montauban, broadcast on the association’s Facebook page the video of a bewildering scene which took place early Saturday afternoon, on a road in the City of Ingres.

A dog hanging on the hitch ball

In these images, we see a gray utility vehicle driving, with a white dog… attached to the coupling ball. This dog of the Spitz breed, about 7 years old, and named Bambi, ” has been dragged for about 800 meters on the tar ”, says Lisa Fernandez, the president of the association, to Toulouse news.

Stunned by the scene she attended, another motorist, who found himself behind the utility, “tried to intercept the vehicle in an emergency”, develops this activist of the animal cause. “She honked repeatedly” to stop the carnage, while having “the reflex to film the scene.”

The owner would not have noticed anything

Driving ? a octogenarian de Montauban, owner of the dog, who would not glimpse of nothing. As she explains in the video, which compiles different stories posted on social networks, Lisa Fernandez believes that it is most likely more of a “Dramatic accident” than an “act of willful cruelty”.

“We sincerely think that he did not do it on purpose. His wife was uneasy some time before, this gentleman then left to go get her something, while he was confused, his head elsewhere. The problem, it is because he used to tie his dog to the hitch of the car, which is obviously not acceptable either “.

For Lisa Fernandez, who went to meet the “distraught” owners of Bambi, this scene is above all “the consequence of precarious living conditions of this couple who suffers from isolation, and lack of discernment ”.

Because “an animal protection association also cares about individuals”, it also wants to ensure that “social services come to the aid” to these octogenarians in difficulty.

The dog amputated of two phalanges

As for Bambi, he suffered a lot from this expedition. Supported by the voluntary nurses of the association, the dog had to be treated by a veterinarian from Montauban. Verdict? Multiple wounds and wounds on the legs, chest … “He also suffered from numerous skin scratches, testicles and even the chin”.

His paws, all burned after having heated so much against the tar, were planed in its journey. Wednesday morning, “The veterinarian had to amputate two phalanges, one on each hind leg ”, recounts Lisa Fernandez, who however wants to be relieved:“ His vital prognosis no longer seems committed, this little dog is a warrior! “.

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The 3 Turkeys request the placement of the dog to the prosecutor

But the animal risks keeping “significant after-effects” and will still receive “heavy and long care”. He has already undergone anesthesia on Saturday, and “he will have to redo the bandages every two days”. However, Lisa Fernandez doubts that the couple is able to cope with this situation. The young woman therefore wrote to the public prosecutor of Montauban, to ask him that the dog, but also the cats of the couple, be “Placed in our refuge, where we have volunteer nurses who will take good care of them ”.

“There is no doubt that these elderly people love their animals, the whole neighborhood can attest to, but we are also aware of their precariousness. They are a couple in a desperate social situation, who live in unsanitary conditions and who is no longer able to have animals without outside help “.

“I appeal to the goodwill of the prosecutor so that he accepts temporary withdrawal of animals’ to their owners, chants Lisa Fernandez, who expresses her “only will”: that of “being able to provide them with the care they need”.

If it’s involuntary, neither prosecution nor placement, says prosecutor

Contacted by Toulouse news, the prosecutor of the Republic of Montauban Laurent Czernik specifies late Wednesday afternoon that he does not plan to place the dog, if the involuntary thesis is confirmed by the investigation.

“The investigation is in progress, but if the first elements collected tending to accredit the thesis of an oversight of this old man are confirmed, there will be no prosecution and no placement of the dog on my part”.