Campaign raises funds for neglected dog's medical care

Maizey's second chance

Maizey the mastiff relaxes at her foster home with Cheryl Ball's mom, Janice Terry, Dec. 19. Maizey was severly abused and is looking for a home.
Maizey the mastiff relaxes at her foster home with Cheryl Ball's mom, Janice Terry, Dec. 19. Maizey was severly abused and is looking for a home.

Maizey is a 5-year-old floppy English mastiff who wouldn't roll over nine months ago. She wouldn't wag her tail when a new friend came to greet her. She wouldn't even raise an ear to see who was there.

"Normally dogs will get up and meet new people. She wouldn't even get up off the ground; she just laid there," animal rescuer Crystal Smith said. "She let me look at her eyes and didn't even move, so I knew something was wrong."

Maizey was brought to Smith in bad shape. She had what appeared to be cigarette burns on her fur, part of her tail was singed, her eyes were infected, she was 50-60 pounds underweight, and she was limping.

Smith started a Facebook page called "Help Save Maizey" in November to help raise money for the dog's surgeries. She gives the donations to animal rescue organization People Helping Paws, which will use the money to pay for Maizey's medical care.

People Helping Paws gets support for the cats and dogs it helps through a number of ways like fundraising events, online fundraisers and direct donations.

Smith has worked with People Helping Paws co-founder Stacy Stafford before and needed her help to get money for Maizey's needs. So far, $900 has been spent in medical expenses, and they need $2,000 more for corrective eye surgery and an x-ray of her foot. Maizey won't be spayed until she gains more weight.

Her eye has caught on her eyelid, and Smith believes a German shepherd in a crawlspace under Maizey's previous home would nip at her feet, which is why her feet are in disarray.

Local veterinarian Dr. Jim Crago met Maizey in November and said the dog's condition has improved since then.

"We went over everything and gave her her vaccines and treated her for fleas and ticks and the whole nine yards to kind of get her up to speed," he said.

Smith and Stafford first worked together raising money for two abandoned pitbulls, Brutus and Buster. They raised $2,000 for their vet bills, and both dogs were adopted.

"She takes them as long as I do the funding," Smith said, "which I'm happy to do."

Stafford founded People Helping Paws in 2010 when a woman contacted her about a 9-year-old pitbull abandoned in a home.

"She asked if I would take him because she knew I loved animals, and I had him until he was 17 years old," Stafford said.

Maizey is still up for adoption and would go through a trial period with any potential new family.

In the future, Smith wants to see a registry of animal abusers who are convicted of abuse or neglect, as she thinks they should be prohibited from adopting another animal.

"If we had stricter animal abuse and neglect incentives, maybe some of these people would think twice before putting a blow torch to a dog's tail," she said.

Animal abuse is a class A misdemeanor in Missouri. A conviction can result in a year in prison and up to a $2,000 fine.

Maizey still needs to put on more weight, but in the meantime, she is happy at her foster home.

Smith recently took her son to Maizey's foster home to meet the dog. She happily wagged her tail, raised an ear to her new friend and flipped on her back for a belly rub.

"All they want is love," Smith said.