DETROIT – A tip brought Local 4 Investigators to a Detroit park where they uncovered a disturbing issue. Dogs are being dumped there. Some alive, some dead, and others left to die.
The tip was sent in through the ClickOnDetroit Help Desk. The tipster said a dead dog with a bag over its head had been in Rouge Park for a week, even though they said they reported it to the city.
Related: Low-cost spaying, neutering services for dogs in Metro Detroit
With more than 1,110 acres, Rouge Park is Michigan’s largest urban park. Greg Donigian spotted his first dog there back in the fall of 2018. Commuting home from work at night through the park, Donigian saw a smallish pit bull along the road. The dog was dragging a long rusty chain behind him, and Donigian could see scars on the dog’s body. He pulled over to help but the frightened dog wouldn’t get close to him. A few days later on Thanksgiving Day, Donigian went to work and saw the dog again.
“I pulled over, opened up my passenger door and whistled and it came in, sat in the passenger seat.” When he got the dog home, Donigian made a gruesome discovery: a chain collar tightly embedded in the dog’s neck by about half an inch. Bolt cutters got the collar off, he says “and I’ll never forget the look in his eyes. It was like he was almost thankful.”
Since that day 5 1/2 years ago, Donigian got into the habit of looking for dogs during his commutes through Rouge Park. So far he’s been able to get 42 dogs into his car and out of the park. He paid for their vet care (including spaying and neutering “so I don’t add to the problem”) and found homes for them. These days Donigian’s commute includes multiple stops in the park to drop off bowls of food and water for the dogs he says run loose, still too afraid to come near him.
There is no doubt, Greg Donigian says, that Rouge Park is a dumping ground for unwanted dogs.
“I think people drop them off on the road there, and those dogs will just walk that road waiting to be picked back up. I think when they run out of hope or get too weak they reach out for help. I’ll see them sometimes walking for days, even over a week,” he told Local 4. And it’s not only pit bulls: Donigian says he’s seen French Bulldogs, German shepherds and other breeds dumped in Rouge Park.
There was the chihuahua mix- tossed from the moving car right in front of him (she lives with Donigian permanently now); the garbage bag full of puppies left in the middle of the road; dogs tied to trees, dogs left still inside their cages - and these are the lucky ones. Kristina Rinaldi, executive director of Detroit Dog Rescue is aware of Rouge Park dog dumping. Rinaldi says her organization has found dead dogs with gunshot wounds in Rouge Park.
When retiree Tom Elliott moved to a house near Rouge Park about five years ago, he got into the habit of walking his dog Cookie through the park every morning. “That’s when they dump them, overnight,” Elliott told Local 4. Like Donigian, Elliott adopted a dog he found running loose in the park. Besides strays, Elliott says he finds dead dogs in the park killed intentionally -- shot or suffocated.
Elliott says he’s tried getting law enforcement help: “I’ve emailed the Attorney General estate. I’ve emailed the Michigan State Police and I’ve called the crime reporting for Detroit police. This is a crime, you know?”
Law Enforcement has not responded to his pleas for help, he says. On Sunday, April 28 while walking his dogs in Rouge Park, Elliott spotted a big brown female dog just off the road, dead, with a plastic bag over her head, in plain view of anyone walking the park’s paved foot trail. Elliott says he left a message with Detroit Animal Control, and then he contacted Local 4.
Eight days after Tom Elliott says he reported the dead dog to the city, Local 4 investigative reporter Karen Drew found the dead dog still in the same spot Elliott found her. After Karen made a few calls, Detroit General Services showed up within half an hour to dispose of the dog’s body.
The city of Detroit did not want to talk with us on camera about the problem of dogs dumped in Rouge Park, but the city said if residents find dead or stray dogs they can alert the city through its “Improve Detroit” app.
What to do if you find a dead or stray dog in Detroit
Improve Detroit is a free app where residents can quickly and easily report dead dogs or stray dogs to the city. The app is handy for reporting other issues too, like potholes and running water.
More information about the app can be found at detroitmi.gov/ImproveDetroit. Residents who don’t want to use the app should call (313) 876-0004.