Dog found hogtied and left for dead is taken in by Katherine Heigl’s rescue group

England, the pit bull whose owner allegedly “hogtied” him—bound his legs and mouth and left him to die in a field—has been released to the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, an animal welfare organization founded by actress Katherine Heigl and her mother Nancy Heigl.

Grey’s Anatomy star Heigl appeared with her own pit bull Apollo and with Last Chance for Animals (LCA) president Chris DeRose at a media conference in Hollywood on Wednesday to discuss the case against England’s former owner James Worley, and to announce the foundation’s alliance with LCA offering rewards for abuse cases.

"Anyone that would do this to an animal is a coward and would potentially do this to a child or a woman," said DeRose.

“We will do everything possible to find the person or persons responsible and make sure they are made accountable and punished to the full extent of the law for their actions,” Katherine Heigl said.

England is named after Kern County Animal Control Officer Kristen England, who found him on April 22nd and took him to a Bakersfield, California shelter for medical care.

Known for their investigations and exposure of animal cruelty cases, LCA representatives will attend Worley’s May 7th arraignment.

“We will investigate animal cruelty cases thoroughly and make sure that the DA’s office prosecutes these cases to the fullest extent of the law,” DeRose said.

“The focus of the [Heigl] Foundation is to increase awareness of inhumane treatment of animals, support non-profit rescue efforts, assist homeless shelter animals with rescue and medical treatment, fund and encourage free spay/neuter clinics, place rescue dogs and cats in loving homes, and educate the public about the horrors of puppy mills and dog fighting,” according to the organization’s website.

The Foundation honors Katherine’s brother Jason, killed in a car accident at age 15, states the website, explaining, “Jason loved all animals, especially dogs, cats and monkeys and lived his short life extending compassion and kindness to all creatures great and small.”

Sources for this article included an LCA media release.

Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is the author of 17 novels for publishers including Avon, E.P. Dutton, and Simon & Schuster, and hundreds of articles for publications such as National Geographic Traveler, San Francisco Chronicle, and Veggie Life. She wrote a teleplay for CBS and short fiction for The Bark magazine. With coauthor Shelley Frost, she wrote Your Adopted Dog  (The Lyons Press). Holding a B.A. in Environmental Science Studies and a lifelong interest in animal issues, she spends a lot of her time battling a severe addiction to dogs.