Case Details

Dog shot, hanged to death
Mira Loma, CA (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Aug 21, 2007
County: Riverside
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged
Charges: Felony CTA

Alleged:
» Juan Hernandez
» Rafael Delgadillo Curiel

Case ID: 12108
Classification: Hanging, Shooting
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
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Authorities arrested two men Tuesday who are suspected of shooting one of the men's elderly dog four times and hanging it when it would not die, a Riverside County Sheriff's Department spokesman said.

Juan Hernandez, 24, of Mira Loma, and Rafael Delgadillo Curiel, 36, of Fontana, were booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on suspicion of felony cruelty to animals, sheriff's spokesman Jerry Franchville said.

Curiel was also booked on suspicion of possession of a firearm with an altered identification number, Franchville said.

Bail has been set at $5,000 for each man.

Deputies responded about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to a report of shots being fired at a home in the 10700 block of 54th Street in Mira Loma, Franchville said.

A neighbor told deputies that he saw the men shoot the pit bull, chase the badly injured dog around and then hang it with a rope.

By the time deputies arrived, the animal had been buried, Franchville said. The Riverside County Department of Animal Services was called to dispose of the remains.

Hernandez told deputies he had owned the dog for about 15 years and that it was sick.

"He said the cost to euthanize the dog was too much, so he decided to kill it," Franchville said.

But Hernandez said he could not carry out the deed himself, so he asked his friend, Curiel, to come over and kill the dog, Franchville said.

A woman who answered the door at the 54th Street address on Wednesday morning declined to comment.

John Welsh, a spokesman for the county's animal services department, said the agency discourages owners from euthanizing their own animals.

"If you don't do it properly, you've got an animal that's in extreme pain," Welsh said.

The agency charges pet owners $30 if an animal has to be picked up to be euthanized or $10 if the owner brings the animal to the agency.

The Humane Society of San Bernardino Valley offers the service for free, said Executive Director Jim Ruester.

"It allows the pet owner to do what is best for the animal and the animal some dignity," Ruester said.

Ruester said more information on euthanizing pets is available by calling the Humane Society at 909-386-7043.

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References

Press Enterprise - Aug 23, 2007

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