Scottie set on fire
Sunnyvale, CA (US)Incident Date: Monday, Dec 9, 2002
County: Santa Clara
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Name Undisclosed
» Name Undisclosed
Two boys 11 and 14 years old have been arrested on felony animal abuse charges and released to their families said Captain Byron Pipkin.
The names of the boys are not released due to their age.
Deborah Parrish paid one of the boys $2 a day to play with her family's Scottish terriers, Lucky and Max. The Scotties became so attached to the 11 year old they would cry at the front door when they saw the boy outside.
Deborah Parish said, "This little kid fell in love with my dogs. That's why I don't understand how he could do this." He ended up playing with them for a hour at a time many times a week, wrestling with them on the lawn and throwing a ball for them.
Sunnyvale police believe the young boy broke into the family's backyard, squirted flammable liquid on 10-month old Lucky and lit him on fire.
Lucky is being treated at the South Bay Veterinary Specialists for severe burns to 15% of his body. He is on morphine. Parrish said Lucky will probably lose his right eye, right ear and will have to undergo multiple surgeries for skin grafts.
Six months ago the boy asked if he could take the dogs for walks. The Parrishes agreed. They said the boy clicked immediately with the dogs. When he walked up, both would jump up and lick him.
Parrish said when she and her husband came home on Monday they found Max with a cord wrapped around his neck, making it difficult for him to breathe. Lucky was missing.
Parrish said the boy brought her Lucky's collar and said he found it by a creek. The boy admitted going into their backyard but only to play with the dogs.
A neighbor called on Thursday to said a badly burned dog was at their home, but they weren't sure if it was Lucky the dog shown in the flier photo.
The Parrish family was told it would take $18,000 for the surgeries and there was no guarantee the dog would live. They said they couldn't afford that kind of bill and they went to the clinic to have Lucky euthanized.
Before her husband got to the clinic to approve having Lucky euthanized, the pet clinic called to say some veterinarians and animal rescue units had offered to donate money and time. Somebody put Lucky's story on the Internet and a Scottish terrier rescue group donated more money.
Parrish said, "Lucky is lucky in that regard. But being hairless and having no ear and an eye problem, I'll probably have to change his name to Handsome." References« CA State Animal Cruelty Map
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