Raisin, 3-month-old puppy inside crate tossed over fence in Tujunga, on road to recovery
Raisin, the three-month-old puppy still inside of a crate tossed over a fence in Tujunga in late-March, is on the road to recovery thanks to the quick actions of some local veterinarians.
Unsettling video of the incident shows a man flinging the crate over a chainlink fence and into the Tujunga Wash near Renaissance Drive and Cardamine Court back on March 27.
A neighbor saw the video and sprung into action, rushing to the area to locate the puppy. But when they found the crate, Raisin was nowhere to be found. He was able to rescue her a short while later after she was found near the Tujunga Wash itself.
L.A. County Animal Services took Raisin into their care before she was turned over to the Lange Foundation due to the severe injuries she suffered from the fall, which included two broken hips.
"We were able to get her to an amazing surgeon who fixed her," said Megan Fenner, an administrator with the Lange Foundation in West LA. "Now she's recovering and going to physical therapy."
Caretakers say that she's made tremendous progress in recent weeks, as she prepares for her forever home with a line of hopeful adopters waiting until she's fully recovered.
The man who tossed her over the fence, 25-year-old Daniel Arias, who was identified with the help of residents in the area, now faces a charge of animal cruelty.
"I really don't know why anybody would do it," Fenner said. "Working with animals, you definitely see things that you wish you wouldn't see, and I don't know why people mistreat them. It's beyond me."
The nonprofit shelter covered all of Raisin's medical costs. The Lange Foundation started in 1993 in West L.A. and cares for abandoned and stray animals before their adoptions.
