By ROBERT B. ROAN

DESTREHAN – More than half-starved, afflicted with heartworm and mange and covered with blood-sucking fleas, “Sadie” the Schnauzer mix was quite a sight to see when she was recently brought in to the St. Charles Parish Animal Shelter.

The shelter’s employees and legion of volunteers are partially immune from the examples of abuse and neglect, a hardened shell is tantamount to working long-term at an animal shelter, but the look of love on the face of the “walking skeleton” sank deep into the hearts of all who gazed upon Sadie. She had deformed front legs, the left appendage being somewhat shorter than the right, and her body was ravaged by the obvious neglect and the fact that in her three to four years of life she had given birth to a minimum of six litters of pups.

“She was nursing at the time they found her,” Heather Helfrich, Sadie’s foster mother, said. “Even after all she has been through, she was still trying to be a good mother and nurse that last litter.

“I don’t know how she found the strength.”

Around July 16, a concerned neighbor rescued a litter of four puppies from deplorable conditions at a Destrehan home on Carolyn Drive. The owner, identified by shelter employees as Gary Taylor, had allegedly allowed the dogs – Sadie, a male dog and a passel of puppies – to live behind his trailer in filthy cages and among waist-high grass and weeds.

After hearing about the condition of the animals’ living area, the neighbor gathered in the sickly 6- to 7-week-old puppies and drove them to the shelter. As soon as shelter supervisor Lee Ann Matherne saw the youngsters, she swung into action and accompanied an animal control officer to the residence. Due to their condition, the puppies were euthanized a short time after reaching the shelter.

In her almost one year as supervisor, Matherne has made it a practice to personally go out on all suspected cases of abuse and/or neglect.

“We were able to get Sadie because she was so sweet and friendly,” Matherne recalled. “The male dog would not let us get him and we chased him for over an hour.

“The sheriff’s office issued a warrant for the owner’s arrest and shortly thereafter he went back to the house and took away the male dog. We don’t know the location of either one of them and the male dog desperately needs medical attention.”

As of Friday, the sheriff’s office had not located Taylor and he had not been charged with an offense, according to Capt. Patrick Yoes.

Shelter workers bathed and dipped Sadie in an attempt to reduce the pain inherent with raw, open wounds and blistered skin. She was transported to the Destrehan office of veterinarian Dr. Jack Moreau Jr. for a complete physical examination, which resulted in the discovery of heartworms.

Dr. Moreau, who often provides the shelter with discounted veterinary services, treated Sadie and shelter personnel quickly found her a foster home and a foster mom in the person of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologist Heather Helfrich.

“The first time I saw her I wanted to cry,” Helfrich said. “But she is so much better now. She loves everybody and she goes up to anyone and despite her deformity she makes do with what she has.

“Her little left leg is shorter than her right one so she keeps it tucked underneath her. It is almost like she is a three-legged dog.”

Helfrich, who described herself as a conservationist, added, “Sadie is an inspiration and I feel extremely lucky to have her.”