For weeks, Carmella, a three-year-old Belgian Malinois, sat in the cold, concrete confines of the South Los Angeles Animal Shelter. She remained silent and patiently waited. Her paws pressed through the bars of her kennel—aching, raw, and battered from the constant strain. Each time someone walked by, she would stretch her front legs through the gaps, silently begging for attention, for connection.
A Devastating Discovery
When Kels McDonough, founder of McDonough Rescue, visited the shelter, she noticed the quiet dog in the corner of her cage. In an emotional TikTok video, McDonough shared the devastating moment when she saw Carmella’s gashes—one on each of her forearms.
The wounds were deep and painful, but it was the horrifying realization of how they were caused that left McDonough speechless.
“I saw the gashes formed exactly where her paws went through the bars,” McDonough explained. “She’s waiting all day in that position, risking her safety just to get noticed, just to get a human to see her. She was putting herself in harm’s way.”…