Bear’s slightly scruffy, mostly-black fur is tinged with gray, especially around his nose and paws. His big brown eyes might not appear quite as sad if we didn’t know what he had been through in the past couple of days.
But we know that Wednesday morning, Bear was stabbed and went into shock.
We don’t know whether that happened before or after his owner, 66-year-old Daniel Evan Brooks, of Lawrence, was fatally stabbed in the parking lot of Dillons at 1015 W. 23rd St. But it has been a traumatic couple of days for this old boy.
Bear was taken to the Lawrence Humane Society for emergency care Wednesday morning, and partners at the Clinton Parkway Animal Hospital helped assess and treat him. His laceration was repaired, and by that evening, he was resting comfortably and recovering back at the humane society.
“He’s quite a chill guy so he posted up in the clinic on his dog bed with the techs while they worked,” Shannon Wells, executive director of the humane society, said late Thursday night.
“He is great at supervising!”
His prognosis is good, but his future at this point is not entirely clear.
“We have had some communication from family of the owner,” Wells said. “We think it’s likely they will entrust him to LHS to find him a home to live out his twilight.”
But in the meantime, Wells said, LHS staff will give Bear a full geriatric workup. They know he has arthritis and he needs some dental work. They’ll see if he needs anything else after they run a blood panel, Wells said.
A 54-year-old Lawrence man, Robert Earl Davis, was charged Thursday with first-degree murder and animal cruelty in connection with Brooks’ death and Bear’s injuries.
“Thankfully stories like Bear’s don’t happen every day in Lawrence, but when they do, we want to be able to give animals the emergent care they need to have a fighting chance at recovery,” the humane society posted on social media. “… It is through your generosity that we can give quality emergency care to every animal that needs it.”
To make a donation to support care for Bear and animals like him, visit this link.
More coverage:
August Rudisell / The Lawrence Times
Shannon Wells, Lawrence Humane Society / Contributed PhotoDog who was stabbed and whose owner was killed is recovering, ‘supervising’ at Lawrence Humane Society
Bear’s slightly scruffy, mostly-black fur is tinged with gray around his nose and paws. His big brown eyes might not appear quite as sad if we didn’t know what he had been through in the past couple of days. But we know that Wednesday morning, Bear was stabbed and went into shock.
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
