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Wounded Dog Found Wandering In Centerton To Stay Over Weekend At Hospital

The owner of the badly-wounded rat terrier found wandering the streets of Centerton has been identified, said Centerton Mayor Bill Edwards. Police said there is...

The owner of the badly-wounded rat terrier found wandering the streets of Centerton has been identified, said Centerton Mayor Bill Edwards.

Police said there is an open investigation to find out if Moxy---who the owner said it actually named Tinkerbelle---was abused or had fireworks strapped to its body as neighbors had alleged. Animal hospital staff named the dog Moxy after initially taking the dog in.

Tinkerbelle is being treated at the Centerton Animal Hospital for her wounds. Staff at the hospital said Friday she was still severely dehydrated but was walking on her own. They said Tinkerbelle will not be released this weekend, and because of the police investigation, they said they weren't sure if she would be released to her owner or to a foster family.

Tinkerbelle was found Tuesday in the Appleridge neighborhood. Animal control officers said a woman told them she found the 13-year-old blind and deaf dog with fireworks strapped to it. The woman said she took the fireworks off and went inside to call animal control. In that amount of time, Tinkerbelle had wandered down a few houses where another neighbor found her and took her inside, according to animal control.

John Box's wife saw Tinkerbelle on the street and brought her inside with her to call authorities.

"It approached her and a little slowly. It was scared, and she could see that it had been injured," Box said, "So she took it into the house and wrapped a towel around it and gave it food and water, and immediately called Centerton Animal Control."

She said when she found the dog, she didn't see any fireworks or any evidence that she had had duct tape wrapped around her body. Animal control officers said they are unsure whether any fireworks were ever involved.

"We don't feel that that's the focus here," Box said, "It should be that there's a dog in need of help and that we should help it."

Tinkerbelle's veterinarian said she didn't have any broken bones and the wounds on her back and legs appeared to be a week old.

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