Dog Found Starving With ‘Fly Strike' in Oxford

State police have made an arrest in an animal abuse case after finding a starving dog chained up outside in Oxford and suffering from fly strike-- a condition found on dogs left outside.

Police responded to the 200 block of Governors Hill Road in Oxford just after 2:30 on Friday, Jan. 22 after receiving an anonymous call about a German shepherd dog that was being neglected and they found a thin, unkempt dog with patchy fur, according to police.

He was tied with a 5-foot-long leash and there was no food or water in sight, police said.

"If you leave dogs out, this is a summertime problem," Dr. Cheryl Sackler of the Beacon Falls Animal Hospital said about fly strike. "All the little gnats and flies chew on the tips of the ears."

The person who contacted police said the dog was always tied up and left outside, even in extremely cold weather, and neighbors can hear the dog dropping his food bowl on the ground over and over, police said.

The state trooper and the Oxford Selectman Jeff Haney took the dog and brought him to the Beacon Falls Animal Hospital and the veterinarian determined that the dog had been starved and neglected.

Aside from being 20-25 pounds underweight, the dog had various medical issues to included damaged ears and heart worms.

State police found the dog’s owner, Jonathon Foster, 26, and charged him with cruelty to animals, tethering and confining a dog for an unreasonable period of time, failure to license and failure to vaccinate.

He is scheduled to appear in Derby Superior Court at 9:30 a.m. on March 3.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story said the dog had frost bite but we have since learned the dog suffered from fly strike instead. 

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