Dog stabbed to death, dismembered and dumped
Duluth, GA (US)Incident Date: Friday, Nov 28, 2008
County: Gwinnett
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
Gwinnett police are asking for the public's help in tracking down the person who stabbed and dismembered a dog before discarding the carcass behind a Duluth store.
An employee of a business in the 1600 block of Pleasant Hill Road notified police upon finding the German Shepherd's remains behind the store the day before Thanksgiving.
At first, authorities weren't sure if it was a dog or a coyote. A necropsy performed later by a forensic veterinarian revealed that it was a 1-year-old male German Shepherd. A stab wound led to the dog's death, said Gwinnett police spokeswoman Cpl. Illana Spellman.
Spellman said investigators are especially anxious to get leads that could point them to the culprit in the "gruesome" crime, adding that "anybody that is capable of doing that is capable of doing anything," Spellman said.
Police have obtained surveillance video from nearby stores and they are reviewing it.
Dr. Melinda Merck, who performed the necropsy, is one of the nation's foremost forensic veterinarians. She said the German Shepherd did not appear to have suffered prior abuse or neglect.
"It was not a stray," Merck said. "There was good fat on the body, which leads me to believe that the dog had been well cared for, well fed and belonged to somebody at least recently."
Merck, like other seasoned animal welfare workers, said she was alarmed at the viciousness of the crime.
Animal Enforcement Officer Joey Brooks, who has routinely handled animal cruelty and neglect cases over seven years of employment with the county, said "I've never seen anything like this at all."
Whoever killed the dog is subject to be charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, which carries a penalty of one to five years in prison and fines of up to $15,000, police said.
Anyone with information about the crime is encouraged to contact the Animal Welfare and Enforcement Center at 770-339-3200. If you have information on this case, please contact:
Animal Welfare and Enforcement Center
770-339-3200
Case UpdatesSeveral animal rescue groups have pitched in and the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a puppy killer has increased.
Southern Cross German Shepherd Rescue together with the Primate Freedom Project told Channel 2 they were offering $3,000 to anyone who led authorities to a person who stabbed and mutilated a German Shepherd and left it along Pleasant Hill Road in Gwinnett County in November.
Monday, officials with the Atlanta Humane Society said they are also offering a $2,500 reward for the arrest and conviction of the person responsible.
Investigators said the person who killed and dismembered a puppy and left him behind a store is cruel and violent.
Police said an employee at a shopping center on Pleasant Hill Road found a dismembered German Shepherd puppy behind a store. After a necropsy, investigators determined the puppy had been stabbed before or after he was dismembered.
"To know that he was in the pain he was in before he died is incomprehensible to me," said Molly Moncure with the Southern Cross German Shepherd Rescue.
The sadness and outrage have led to a combined $5,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the puppy's killer.
"I'm absolutely positive that someone knows who did this. I'm hoping the reward money will bring that person forward with tips so that the person can be caught, apprehended, and convicted," said Moncure.
If you have any information on who is responsible for the crime, you are asked to call Gwinnett County authorities at 770.339.3200.
If convicted, the person responsible for the crime will get at least a year in jail and/or a fine of up to $15,000. | Source: WSBTV - Jan 3, 2009
Update posted on Jan 3, 2009 - 9:27PM |
A German Shepherd rescue group is chipping in to the search for whoever killed and mutilated a dog found behind a Duluth business last month.
Clarksville-based rescuers Southern Cross GSD are compiling a reward - it stands at about $800 now - for information leading to an arrest, or arrests, in the animal cruelty case.
Gwinnett police were pointed to the 1-year-old German Shepherd's remains Nov. 26, when an employee of a Party City store on Pleasant Hill Road said he'd found the dismembered animal behind the building. Later tests revealed the animal had been stabbed to death.
Police have no suspects.
Southern Cross, a nonprofit licensed through the Georgia Department of Agriculture, provides "no-kill" solutions to homeless German Shepherds in shelters across the state, according to the group's Web site.
Anyone wishing to donate to the reward fund can do so on the Web at www.southerncross-gsd.com. Mail donations to: Southern Cross GSD STOP! Fund c/o Regions Bank, 1210 Washington St., Clarksville, GA 30523.
Police urge anyone with information about the dog's death to contact the Animal Welfare and Enforcement Center at 770-339-3200. | Source: Gwinett Daily Post - Dec 27, 2008
Update posted on Dec 28, 2008 - 10:46PM |
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