Two young boys, aged 11 and 14, are now accused of a gruesome crime...taking a stray puppy off the street and burning it to death in a BBQ grill behind an abandoned building.
"First they lit up the grill, then they put the dog in it. The dog jumped out of the grill and he was on fire," said witness Dregis Freeman.
10-year-old Freeman saw the whole thing. Upset by what happened, the young witness ran to a neighbor's house for help. But by the time police arrived, the burned puppy was dead.
"[The puppy] was probably 8-10 weeks old...he was charred really bad. Who knows why they did it, and why would a child have that kind of anger or meanness to do something like that?" said Springfield Police Officer Chuck Bilyeu.
Police say that after lighting the grill, one of the boys lifted the lid and the puppy jumped out. He only made it a few feet before he died.
Springfield Police Lt. William Watkins said, "I think it's a shame . They had nothing better to do than to torture a dog."
Police have charged the two boys with aggravated animal cruelty. But the burned puppy isn't the only dog those boys allegedly tortured. According to investigators, the kids broke into the city's animal shelter several days earlier and stole a Shar-pei puppy. Police found it badly bleeding after being cut in the left front leg.
"None of the boys I talked to ever admitted they did it, even though they'd been seen earlier that day with the puppies," said Officer Bilyeu.
The Shar-pei is recovering in the care of a rescue group. Officers say more charges could be pending.
A new law just passed by state legislators in May has made aggravated animal abuse a felony in Tennessee. Police told News 2 that more charges are pending against the two teens, and possibly several others. References | News 2 |
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