Dog disemboweled during robbery, ransacking Monticello, IN (US) Incident Date: Friday, May 25, 2007 County: White Local Map: available Disposition: Open Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!

Case ID: 11691 Classification: Mutilation/Torture Animal: dog (non pit-bull) View more cases in IN (US) Login to Watch this Case

A woman in the 700-block of North Railroad Street says burglars broke into a duplex unit she shares with her father, ransacked the home and "gutted" the family dog.

"They killed the dog," said Kathy Lowery, 46, about her father's 4-year-old rat terrier, Trish. "They cut its guts out."

She said the unknown perpetrator or perpetrators caused extensive damage to the inside of the duplex unit Friday morning, but took only some tools, NASCAR memorabilia and a jar containing about $30 in change.

"It was tore all to hell," said neighbor Tony Coswell about the damage.

Detective Tim McFadden of the Monticello Police Department said the dog had been killed and "the interior of the house was basically destroyed."

"If it could be broken, it was broken," McFadden said.

Lowery said her father left for work shortly after 6 a.m. on Friday, May 25. When Lowery entered the duplex between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., the home already had been ransacked.

The culprit or culprits may have entered through the southside door, which does not always lock properly, Lowery said.

She estimated damage was in the thousands of dollars.

Picture frames were knocked off the wall, and the pictures were torn up, she said.

Her father, Bill Zettee, 61, had a collection of ceramic wolves, which was shattered, Lowery said.

Ceiling fans, a window on the kitchen door and the toilet seat were all broken. Lowery's computer was destroyed, and her father's console television was tipped overand its screen was shattered, she said.

Lowery added that her father did not have renter's insurance.

Most devastating of all, however, was the condition of the family dog.

"I walked in and Trish, she picked up her head and looked at me and there was nothing they could do," Lowery said about the animal. Trish had to be euthanized.

Lowery said she has no idea who committed the crime or why, but she hopes the community will assist her and her father with the recovery effort.

Though attempts have been made to follow up with the investigation, McFadden said, little progress has been made.

He did say there was probably more than one person involved because of the extent of the damage.

"We have very little to follow up on," he said. "We interviewed neighbors. Nobody heard or saw anything."

"The homeowner has no idea why someone would do this to him or his property," McFadden said.

"(They were) kind of crazy," Coswell said about whoever committed the crime. "You'd have to be to hurt a little dog like that."

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References

Journal & Courier - June 2, 2007

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