Not all animal rescues have a happy ending. On a cold January night Arnold was found by El Paso Animal Control standing, injured, in the middle of a city street. Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue was contacted and the animal was taken to a local veterinary clinic. There it was determined that the armadillo had been the victim of an apparent dog attack and had sustained some deep puncture wounds through his shell. The wounds were badly infected. It took nearly two hours of surgery to open and clean out the wounds. Despite the best of medical treatment, the animal succumbed to the infection three days later.

Armadillos are not native to far west Texas and Arnold was nearly 300 miles from his natural range. How did he get to the El Paso area? More than likely he was brought in as a pet and either escaped or was released. Humans must have played a role in his relocation.

It was a sad end to a totally harmless and beneficial creature.