Beat 9 lb Pomeranian to death with sticks
Albany, NY (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Aug 21, 2003
County: Albany
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
Three youths beat a 9-year-old Pomeranian named Gizmo to death with sticks after chasing down the frightened animal.
Gizmo was playing in the yard of his First Avenue home about 1 p.m. Thursday with 17-year-old Kimberly Sivaslian, one of his owners. The tiny dog ran off when Sivaslian briefly went inside, Department of Public Safety spokesman Detective James Miller said.
"From there, three young boys spotted him, chased him on their bicycles for about a half a block, and then beat him to death with sticks," Miller said.
A woman witnessed the beating at the corner of Seymour Avenue and Benjamin Street in the city's South End and called 911. She estimated the boys' ages as 11 to 14, Miller said.
When Officer Michael Seney arrived, the dog was dead.
The family was devastated Friday over losing their pet. Gizmo, named after the fuzzy creature in the movie "Gremlins," was given to them as a puppy by his previous owner, who had too many pets.
"It's awful, it's awful," sobbed Jeanne Owens, Sivaslian's mother, who works in the purchasing unit of the city's Department of Public Safety.
"He was real small. ... He never hurt anyone," Sivaslian said. "He's like the size of someone's foot. His mouth isn't really wide enough to bite anyone to really hurt them. So I don't understand why these kids did this, because if they can sit here and abuse a dog like that, what happens when they get older? Are they going to do this to people? They need to be caught, and they need help, and they need to be punished."
The dog had gotten out in the past. To keep him from maneuvering through the opening, Sivaslian would cover it with a garbage bag, which she thinks the dog went underneath.
The teenager, who is entering her senior year at Abrookin Vocational Center, said Gizmo will be cremated and the family will get the remains.
Miller said the police want to find the kids, who would face juvenile delinquent charges in Family Court.
"This is not an instance where you have young teenage boys just throwing rocks at an animal and accidentally strike it and kill it," Miller said. "We're talking about three boys who chased a dog down for a block and then savagely beat it with sticks, knowing full well they were going to kill the dog." References« NY State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Albany County, NY
|
