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Case #6536 Rating: 3.8 out of 5
Dog doused with gasoline, set on fire
Charleston, SC (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Dec 13, 2005
County: Charleston
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Harold Goss
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
On December 13, 2005, Carlotta Grant looked out the window and saw her beloved dog Bailey in flames, running frantically in the yard. She grabbed a towel, rushed outside, and covered the smoking 50-pound basset hound/Dalmatian mix.
Charleston County sheriff's deputies said an 18-year-old man set the dog on fire after Grant forbade him from dating her 13-year-old daughter.
Harold Goss of Charleston was charged with cruelty to animals. He was being held in the Charleston County Detention Center on $10,000 bail. "He got mad and took it out on my dog," Grant said. "What kind of monster would do that?" "To take this out on a defenseless animals is really sad," said John Clark, a spokesman with the sheriff's office. Goss is accused of pouring gasoline onto Bailey, 3, and then throwing a lighted match onto the dog. Bailey suffered second-degree burns to her ears and back.
The spotted dog, wrapped in bandages and on sedatives, was recovering at Grant's home in North Charleston.
Goss stopped by Grant's home at around 10:30 pm on December 12, 2005, and inquired about her daughter's whereabouts. Grant told Goss that her daughter was too young to date and asked Goss to leave.
Three hours later, Grant was awakened by Bailey's yelps. Grant chased the burning dog for about five minutes before she captured her and drove her to a veterinarian on Montague Avenue.
Police arrested Goss in a parking lot near Grant's home at the corner of Dunlap Street and Rivers Avenue.
Bailey has to return to the vet every three days to have her bandages changed. Grant said she wants Bailey's attacker to pay for her medical expenses, which are expected to be nearly $1,000.
Case UpdatesBailey has recovered from his burns. And the teenager who intentionally set the dog on fire is headed for prison. A judge gave 18-year-old Henry Goss up to five years in prison Thursday for burning the basset hound/Dalmatian mix in December. Because Goss was sentenced under the state's Youthful Offender Act, his prison time is open-ended. Prison officials can release him early only after determining whether he is mentally and emotionally stable enough to go free.
Goss, who agreed to plead guilty, barely spoke at his sentencing in front of 10th Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson Jr.
But Bailey's owner, Carlotta Grant of North Charleston, was relieved to get some degree of closure. "I'm satisfied that he's going to jail," she said. "It's not a joke. He doesn't realize the severity of what he put my family through that day."
Bailey was doused with gasoline and set on fire in the backyard of Grant's North Charleston home three hours after she had told Goss to stay away from her 13-year-old daughter because she was too young to date. "It was a horrible scream," Grant said at the time of the attack on the 3-year-old dog. She responded by grabbing a towel and covering the smoking 50-pound mutt.
Goss was arrested a short while later with gasoline on his clothes. He was charged with torturing an animal, a felony with a maximum five-year sentence. Goss' attorney, Stephen Harris, spoke in his defense Thursday. He said the youth suffers from attention-deficit disorder and fetal alcohol syndrome, which intensifies his reaction to alcohol. Goss, an 11th-grade dropout, has contended he was drunk when he went after the dog. Alcohol treatment will come with his prison time.
After spending two weeks at an animal hospital, most of Bailey's scars have healed. Bailey remains fearful of pressurized spray cans. He associates them with some of the medicine he received during treatment, Grant said. Otherwise, the dog acts as he did before the attack, nuzzling Grant and barking at the Chihuahua that lives next door. Bailey is not aggressive and has no fear of young men, she said. "Basically," Grant said, "he's back to his playful self." | Source: The Post and Courier - May 19, 2006
Update posted on May 31, 2006 - 3:00PM |
Bailey the dog is getting worse. The 50-pound basset/Dalmatian mix had a swollen head and ears December 14, 2005, and wasn't eating much. He suffered second-degree burns when he was doused with gasoline and set on fire. Bailey's veterinarian said the dog might need surgery if swelling continues near the opening of the ear canal.
"That's the biggest danger," said Martha McTavish, a veterinarian at The Animal Hospital in North Charleston.
One bright spot was that Bailey, 3, took his first steps since the attack the morning of December 14, 2005. "He's walking today," said Carlotta Grant, the dog's owner. "Everywhere I go, he follows me."
Harold Goss, 18, of Charleston was charged with lighting Bailey on fire. Goss was arrested on animal cruelty charges and remained in the Charleston County Detention Center on $10,000 bail. Charleston County sheriff's detectives said the man burned the dog after Grant forbade him from dating her 13-year-old daughter.
Dozens of people have asked if they could donate money to help Grant with her vet bills. Donations can be made to Bailey Carlotta Grant at any First Citizens Bank under account number 079488420516.
Grant will return to the vet every day for at least week so Bailey's bandages can be changed. | Source: Post and Courier - December 15, 2005
Update posted on Dec 16, 2005 - 11:22PM |
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