Dog attacked with hatchet
Manayunk, PA (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008
County: Philadelphia

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Valentine Gvakhria

Residents out enjoying the balmy sunshine Tuesday morning in Manayunk were sickened to see a woman attacking a dog with a hatchet on Carson Street near Main, according to a cruelty investigator for the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The son of the woman, an elderly Russian immigrant who speaks no English, later denied she had attacked the dog, a family pet named Starene, and indicated some unknown person had beaten the animal.

PSPCA humane officer Leonard Knox said several witnesses ran to call police and animal-cruelty officers after seeing the attack, but it was too late for Starene, a 2-year-old Rhodesian ridgeback who was essentially skinned during the attack.

Starene's wounds, which included a fractured skull, were so severe she had to be euthanized, Knox said.

Police charged Valentine Gvakhria, 76, whose son owned the dog, with cruelty to animals and related offenses for the attack.

Gvakhria's son, David, a construction worker, said his mother did not harm the dog but was calling for help in Russian, which bystanders did not understand, and that a woman who said that she witnessed the attack had misinterpreted his mother's actions.

Gvakhria said his mother told him she was eating breakfast at their home on St. Davids Street near Gay, Tuesday when a man pounded on her door and, when she answered, dropped a garbage bag containing the body of the mutilated family pet there.

Gvakhria said that his mother told him she dragged the 80-pound dog, which was shrieking in pain, a short distance to their back yard, and screamed for help.

Gvakhria said his mother loved Starene, which he got from a fireman friend who found her wandering in Center City last fall, and fed her, sometimes too much.

"I love my dog to death, she does too," Gvakhria said of his mother. "She's not crazy. She is a sweet woman."

He said Starene was good with people but didn't get along with other animals and had run across the street once and attacked a German shepherd. Gvakhria admitted there was a small opening in his fence but didn't know if Starene had gotten out Tuesday and attacked another animal.

He said he didn't know why the police account placed the attack on Carson Street, which is two blocks from his home.

Investigators said because of the language barrier, they had not determined what prompted the attack.

PSPCA CEO Howard Nelson said: "The savageness of the attack makes it obvious that the suspect needs medical intervention."

He thanked those who tried to save Starene.

Knox said the attack came just three days after a police officer on routine patrol in Kensington heard dogs barking Saturday afternoon and animal-cruelty agents found and confiscated 20 caged pit bulls that were suspected of being used in dog fighting, many with open wounds and some emaciated. *

References

Philadelphia Daily News - April 25, 2008

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