Owners of Rescued Monticello, New York Dog Make Heartbreaking Announcement

Zola the dog was the talk of the town around this time last year. She was saved and given a second chance at life thanks to the caring animal community in Sullivan County, New York.

Unfortunately, those closest to Zola had to make an extremely heartbreaking decision about Zola's future.

Monticello, New York Man Arrested After Abusing Dog

In May of 2023, Monticello Police reportedly observed a man becoming violent with a dog. At the time Hudson Valley Post reported that Monticello Police saw 24-year-old Samuel Stanford of Monticello "aggressively slamming a female Pit bull dog against the pavement and then using his feet to stomp on the dog."

Stanford was arrested and charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal but was released on an appearance ticket.

Joanne Gerow, founding President and Director of Catskill Animal Rescue, got to work to make sure that justice was served for the abused dog named Zola.

After letting Zola heal properly from the horrible injuries from her abuse including a broken cheekbone, 2 broken ribs, and other internal trauma. Gerow assisted in finding Zola a home.

Zola Gets Second Chance at Life Training With K9 Organization

While in rehab Gerow and those at Catskill Animal Rescue learned that Zola was reactive to other dogs. So, to move along and give Zola a proper life they decided to team up with Christian Losiewski of Real World K9 LLC.

Losiewski is a top K9 trainer and they had high hopes of modifying her dog aggression issues.

Things were going well with Losiewski out in the Michigan area, they even thought Zola would be able to use her skills to become a drug-sniffing K9.

However, Zola's dog aggression proved to be problematic.

Heartbreaking Update on Zola The Rescue Dog from Monticello, New York

Joanne Gerow announced on Catskill Animal Rescue Inc.'s Sullivan County NY Lost & Found Pets Facebook group that Zola was to be humanely euthanized.

A decision like this isn't an easy one to come to, especially because of all the work Joanne, Christian, and The CARE team put in with Zola, but Joanne explains:

We did our very best as a community to care for and rehabilitate Zola to give her a good life, yet the trauma and abuse she sustained was just too much. Our hearts are completely broken and we are emotionally drained as this was not the ending we were praying for.

According to the post, Zola had been making progress up until this past January. Gerow explains  Zola "attacked an elderly dog without provocation" adding:

CARE would like to extend our deepest appreciation for everyone who donated, rallied and supported our efforts on behalf of this beautiful dog. A special thank you to Christian for opening his home and giving Zola his very best.

Rest peacefully, sweet girl.

You can read the full post on the Catskill Animal Rescue Facebook page.