Julia Gosen, animal impound officer for the city of Mankato, said she hasn’t seen an increase in the amount of clear-cut animal abuse. In fact, she said no can be certain that Pixie, the cat with the amputated tail, was abused. And she’s right. Pixie could have wandered too close to a candle or fireplace.

“We don’t know what happened to that cat. It’s tough to say unless you have someone come forward and say ‘I saw what happened,’” Gosen said. “True abuse and neglect is, thankfully, pretty rare.”

But it still happens.

Nelson said a very underfed German short-hair was found wandering the Lincoln Park area of town recently.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life,” Nelson said of the dog’s condition.

That dog was too far gone to be saved and had to be euthanized.

“If you can’t afford it, ask for help. Call us. Say ‘Hey, I’m in dire straits, I’m desperate!’ We will help,” Nelson said. “If we can’t help, maybe we know someone who can help. But an animal shouldn’t have to suffer the way this dog did.”

Animal abuse case going to court

The former owner of a Boston terrier found severely undernourished has been charged with animal mistreatment and will appear in court Monday.

Janice Marie Stolee, 23, 101 Mayan Way, has been charged in Blue Earth County District Court. She’s accused of failing to properly care for a dog that would later be judged by a veterinarian as “extremely emaciated.”

Stolee could not be reached for comment.

Authorities say they first met the dog — named Gizmo when Stolee had it, and later named Jenny by Humane Society volunteers — when Stolee herself brought it to the Mankato impound Aug. 16.

Stolee reportedly told authorities she’d found the dog running lose in Buscher Park. Animal impound office Julia Gosen took the dog in, noting the urine- and feces-stained fur on its paws.

The dog was immediately turned over to the Blue Earth Nicollet County Humane Society for emergency treatment.

A short time later, the humane society received an anonymous call identifying the dog’s owner. Volunteers forwarded that information to Gosen, who ran the name through a state driver’s license database. Gosen saw a driver’s license photograph and recognized it as Stolee, the same person who claimed to have found the dog wandering lose.