Nov. 6 was a devastating day for many of the freshmen living in Bowen student dormitory. That day, they discovered one of the Grambling dogs named Brown Sugar laying helplessly on the grass and barely moving.
She had been attacked the night before by a group of unknown students next to the stairwell at Garner Hall. They left her there to die.
”There was significant amount of trauma to the pet,” said a local veterinarian who examined Brown Sugar. “There was head trauma, facial trauma, and trauma to the ribs and limbs. It almost looked at if the patient was hit by a car.”
During a phone interview, the veterinarian asked to rename anomious and said there were obvious signs of multiple issues of concerns.
”We know for sure that there were fracture of the mandible (jawbone), the ribs, and one of the limbs. The costs for that would have been significant.”
According to the veterinarian, Brown Sugar was about 10 months to a year old, and she would have to undergo multiple surgeries “for her to function in a normal manner.”
The damage done was so severe that it was obvious to the veterinarian and technicians what was wrong even without taking X-Rays or running any tests.
Chance Gray was one of several freshmen who looked after Brown Sugar. Although he started to take care of her last Monday, Gray noticed an improvement in Brown Sugar’s health. Gray said he helped purchase flea medication medication, shampoo, food and a blue collar for Brown Sugar.
”I just met the dog, but at the same time,” said Gray, “I nursed the dog back to health and it just took me a day.”
On Wednesday around 12 p.m., a student called Gray to tell him Brown Sugar looked like she was about to die. Gray waited by her side as other freshmen asked around campus for help and for a ride to a vet in Ruston. They wanted to take her to the vet and pay for the bill.
”When Brown Sugar tried to stand up and walk, she started screaming,” said Gray. “I had to be careful when I picked her up and she was screaming and hollering.”
According to students, Brown Sugar had seizure like symptoms Wednesday afternoon, the veterinarian said that would be consistent from what was seen in the examination room.
Ariel Shamlin was one of the many freshmen who took care of Brown Sugar and was there during her final moments at the vet. She did not see Brown Sugar as a stray dog, but a “campus friend”.
An animal lover herself, Shamlin thought it was only the right thing to do. Shamlin saw Brown Sugar around campus throughout the semester and said students have been taking care of her since.
”We would play with her, feed her and bathe her,” said the Dallas native. “She was so happy and she would always come up to us wanting to play, so we started taking care of her.”
Even if students were not animal lovers, they were disturbed when they found out that an innocent dog was attacked at Grambling State University. One in particular is Keyundra Grant from Homer.
”Me personally, I don’t like animals of no kind, but that’s sad,” said Grant, a sophomore social work major. “I wouldn’t beat a dog nor harm a dog, and it’s sad that someone in the community would hurt an innocent animal for no reason.”
Grant also heard comments from students how campus police “did not care about the dog”.
According to Gray the officer “laughed and said, ‘there is nothing that we can do but let the dog die, Grambling does not take care of animals.'”
Campus police did not return calls for comment by press time.
Student Government Association President Jordan Harvey and other students were bothered by this and the attack.
”I was upset. It was so cruel what they did to her and for her to live her last days like that,” said Shamlin.
Gray said he still doesn’t understand why this happened because the dog never harmed anyone and everyone knew her.
Before getting off the phone, the veterinarian said, “I would like to give my thanks to them (the students). We were very pleased to see them trying to take care of her and trying to prevent the dog from suffering any further.”