SEATTLE — On Monday, a weekend mission to rescue an abused dog came to a head: Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth recognized the building where a video showed a man beating a dog named Angel. Because of the violent nature of the video, KING 5 will not be showing it.
"I woke this morning to a disturbing video of a dog being abused in one of the buildings that's on Capitol Hill and immediately, I started to triage," she said.
Using her connections, she was able to get the building developer, management, and Seattle police involved in rescuing the dog. The apartment complex where the incident occurred is at 10th Avenue and John Street. Hollingsworth also had the support of five concerned community members.
"Thankful to those neighbors who spoke out, elevated this, took video, people that all pitched in and said 'Hey, we're calling the animal abuse line, we're calling SPD,'" Hollingsworth said.
On Saturday, Seattle police said a 911 call from the person recording the video sent them to the complex where they arrested a man. That man will face an animal cruelty charge. The dog was left behind in the apartment with the man's partner. She voluntarily surrendered it on Monday.
On Tuesday, the man was released on personal recognizance and was ordered not to possess any animals.
Councilmember Hollingworth took the dog to a veterinarian. A concerned community member created an online fundraiser to help pay for Angel's vet bills.
This incident, Hollingsworth said, is indicative of a bigger problem at the building. According to her, King County Regional Homelessness Authority placed people in the complex with no oversight. It's something she plans to address with the agency.
"We need to have people who are case managers on site. We need to have wellness checks. We need to make sure people are okay," she said. "The Regional Homelessness Authority, we're going to have conversations with them to find out what type of wellness is in this building because we've received phone calls of stuff going in the building where it's just not safe."
KCRHA told KING 5 that the incident is "very concerning" to them and that the organization "condemns violence of all kinds against people and animals."
KCRHA does not own the building, but formerly homeless clients have individual leases there. The KCRHA said while a case manager was not there at the time, people living there do receive services.
“Addressing this crisis is challenging and the people experiencing homelessness often have complex needs,” a spokesperson said. “We’re working with individuals to help them to rebuild their lives.”