Dog stabbed, beaten, left in dumpster
Hollywood, FL (US)Incident Date: Monday, Feb 11, 2008
County: Broward
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Brandon Conklin
A Hollywood teen accused of stabbing his pet pit bull then leaving him for dead in a dumpster was arrested Thursday and charged with animal abuse, Hollywood police said.
The injured dog survived - despite spending two days in the trash container without food and water.
Brandon Conklin, 18, was charged with causing cruel death or pain and suffering to an animal. He was being held in the Broward County Main Jail on $2,500 bail.
Employees at Spa Cover, a business at 2310 Hayes St., found the weakened dog inside the Dumpster on Feb. 11 as they were throwing out the trash, just minutes before a garbage truck picked up the container, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The employees fed the dog, then called an animal rescue group who took him in and paid for his treatment at the Hollywood Animal Hospital, said Hollywood police spokesman Sgt. Manny Marino.
Police traced the dog to Conklin thanks to an anonymous tip placed to the Crime Stoppers hotline, Marino said.
This is what the affidavit says led to the stabbing:
Conklin found the 2-year-old dog, named "Dadda Love," in December as he walked through a park with a younger sister. He took the stray to his home on the 2000 block of Grant Street, where he kept the new pet tethered to a backyard tree.
But Conklin already had a male pit bull - a 1½-year-old named "Scooby." Neither of the dogs had been neutered, so Conklin's family made sure they were separated at all times to avoid aggression.
The dogs couldn't be kept apart for long - Scooby, who had recently been stitched up after an accident, made his way to Dadda Love's side of the yard on Feb. 9.
The new dog sniffed at Scooby's stitches and both began mauling each other.
Though a stepbrother identified in the report as Mark Stanley Jr., 23, tried to remove Dadda Love from Scooby by strangling and beating the animal, the pit bull would not let go.
That's when Conklin went into the house, retrieved a butcher's knife and stabbed Dadda Love in his upper left hind quarters. The dog collapsed immediately.
Authorities say Conklin hid the injured dog in a bundle of clothes and placed him in a garbage cart. He then walked two block to the spa's Dumpster where he got rid of the dog; he never returned to check on him, police say.
A woman who identified herself as Conklin's mother declined to comment on the incident when reached at his home phone number.
"I don't know anything about what happened," she said.
Dadda Love is being kept by the Faktura Pet Projekts, which is seeking someone to adopt him. Information on adoption can be found at its Web site, www.fakturaprojekts.com. References« FL State Animal Cruelty Map
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