Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Puppy severely burned with acid

Puppy severely burned with acid
Federal Way, WA (US)

Date: Mar 10, 2006
County: King
Local Map: available
Disposition: Open
Case Images: 5 files available

Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!

Case Updates: 6 update(s) available

Case ID: 7684

Classification: Burning - Caustic Substance

Animal: dog (pit-bull)

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The staff at Valley Animal Hospital is still having nightmares about an abused puppy brought in�with burns over 80 percent of its body.

Fumes from the acid-like substance sickened three of the hospital's five workers, two of whom were taken to Auburn Regional Medical Center for treatment, and the fire department's hazardous materials team was called to the vet's office.

The acid had stripped the 4-month-old pit bull of large portions of its hair and its skin was falling off in places, said Cheryl Lindsey, the hospital office manager.

"It was terrible," she said, nearly breaking into tears. She said the suspicion is that the chemical was muriatic acid, which is used to clean concrete and also in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

Ten minutes after it arrived, she said, the dog was euthanized. ``It was in shock,'' she said.

``We are investigating it as an animal cruelty case,'' Al Dams with King County Animal Control said Tuesday.

Lindsey said a distraught woman called Valley Animal Hospital about noon Friday, saying the dog had been dumped in the yard of an elderly neighbor in Federal Way.

The neighbor, who thought the dog might have been in a fight, told Lindsey that she called King County Animal Control but couldn't get any assistance, Lindsey said. She also tried a number of veterinarians, who said they couldn't help.

``We told her to bring the dog in,'' Lindsey said.

The woman showed up with the dog wrapped in a towel.

Lindsey said they thought at first the dog had been dragged behind a car for several miles, but then realized a chemical of some kind caused the injuries.

Lindsey said they notified King County Animal Control even before the dog arrived and then, per protocol, called back to get permission to euthanize the dog.

Realizing the case might be criminal animal cruelty, Lindsey said they called 911. A dispatcher said they should call Animal Control because there wasn't anything police could do.

They called Animal Control back. The agency eventually called the Auburn Fire Department, which brought its hazmat team to the animal hospital.

Lindsey said the staff started getting sick about 30 minutes after the dog arrived, suffering nausea, respiratory problems and headaches. Lindsey and Chris Tobin, a veterinarian technician, were treated at Auburn Regional Medical Center.

The woman who brought the dog to the hospital went home and canvassed her neighborhood until she found where the dog lived, Lindsey said. The woman called Federal Way police.

Federal Way police said they contacted the owners of the dog Friday. The owners said they didn't know the dog was missing.

Federal Way police Lt. Terry Hock said the officers found a substance in the backyard of the owner's house that might have caused the burns on the dog, but they didn't know what it was.

The case was turned over to King County Animal Control, which planned a necropsy on the dog, she said.

Auburn Fire Department spokeswoman Kimberly McDonald said that they couldn't determine what caused the dog's injuries. Muriatic acid was suspected but tests at the scene were neutral, possibly because the dog had been washed, she said.

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Case Updates

The caustic burning of a 4-month-old pit bull named Mooie has outraged animal rights activists in the Seattle area and gained sympathy from others in cyberspace. A neighbor found the puppy, which was suffering from severe chemical burns, on March 10, 2006 and called police, according to the Federal Way Police Department. The woman took Mooie to a veterinary clinic to be treated � her skin and fur were falling off. The doctors decided to euthanize the dog to end her pain.

Police contacted the dog's owner, who said he was unaware the puppy was missing and injured. He cooperated with the investigation, police said, and the department continues to probe the crime with King County Animal Services. Activists believe the departments botched the investigation, and the case has riled animal rights supporters, both in the Seattle area and worldwide on the Internet. More than 100 people turned out Thursday night to question officials at a town hall meeting, which was supposed to be about auto thefts in the area. Among them was Mark Steinway of the animal-rescue group Pasado's Safe Haven in Sultan, Wash., which is offering a $20,000 reward in the case and has started a "Justice for Mooie" petition with more than 5,000 online signatures, according to the group's Web site. "If this had happened to a poodle in Bellevue [an upscale Seattle area] rather than a pit bull from a low-income street, you'd have seen a different reaction," Steinway said.

Several in the crowd accused police of not taking the investigation seriously, not searching potential crime scenes thoroughly and disposing of the evidence. The dog was cremated, and a necropsy was not performed. "The autopsy should have been done immediately � no questions asked," one man said. "I'm appalled about this." Chris Tolman, the veterinary technician who cared for the dog and held her as she was euthanized, said she "personally can't go through this again." Tolman said that investigators were slow to respond, that 911 operators didn't take her calls seriously, and that valuable time had been lost in the search for the person who had abused Mooie. "I am angry," she said, adding that she still had nightmares from seeing the dog in such a state. "I am outraged. I am hurt."

Dr. Ivy Engstrom, the veterinarian who treated Mooie, said the pup was hurt so badly that the kindest thing she could do was anesthetize and euthanize her to end her pain. "I've seen animals with their heads crushed, tied up by their legs, dogs who were sodomized and dragged behind a car," Engstrom said. "But this was one of the worst things I have ever seen."

Investigators said people were basing their complaints on partial police reports and news reports that did not fully tell the scope of the investigation. "We went through the house from top to bottom," said Federal Way police Detective Tom Robinson, who conducted the initial search of the dog owner's home. A search warrant wasn't necessary because police received the owner's approval to walk through the home and search the backyard. Robinson also told critics that the investigation was ongoing and that not all details had been immediately released to the public. Facing complaints that it had taken two weeks to determine the substance that had burned Mooie was concentrated ammonia, King County Animal Services manager Walt Washington defended the delay. "It's important that everybody understands that in a case so heinous as this, we had to be sure," Washington said. He said it was his decision to cremate the dog's remains because, even in storage in a county refrigerator, it was emitting a toxic odor that was making workers ill. The veterinary technicians who tried to care for the dog in its final hours were briefly hospitalized. Washington also said two weeks was a quick turnaround for results from the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, which evaluated evidence of the substance on the dog's collar.

Monica Jones-Walker, whose son owned the dog, said she also was upset with the lack of progress in finding a suspect and didn't know who would want to harm Mooie. Her adult son doesn't know how the puppy got out of their yard, she said, or how it ended up in a neighbor's yard where children were playing with her. "If they had did their investigation that day," she said, "they wouldn't be at this point right now."

Susan Michaels, co-founder of Pasado's Safe Haven, said the group has heard from outraged people from across the world. "We've had people contact us from Bangkok, Germany, Australia, even Japan," Michaels said. The center has been flooded with calls, e-mails and donations. In the last two weeks, its Web site has been getting more than 80,000 hits an hour, four times the usual number, and Michaels said that a larger server was needed to accommodate the increased traffic.

Source: ABC News - March 24, 2006
Update posted on Mar 28, 2006 - 7:40PM

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Dams and police said that the dog's owner is being questioned by Animal Services and that the case is being investigated aggressively. The dog's owner lives near the home where the dog was found. More than $15,000 has been offered as a reward to anyone with information leading to a cruelty conviction. Pasado's Safe Haven has been receiving more than 80,000 hits an hour on its Web site since posting photos of the puppy, according to co-founder Susan Michaels. Police and Animal Services said they've been bombarded with e-mail criticizing their response.

Source: Seattle Times - March 21, 2006
Update posted on Mar 22, 2006 - 4:02PM

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King County Animal Services is investigating a felony animal cruelty case that led to a 3-month-old pit bull puppy being covered in chemical burns and becoming the focus of animal lovers criticizing the agency.

On March 10, a woman found the dog in a neighbor's backyard in Federal Way. It was bleeding and its skin was sloughing off. The woman took the dog to Auburn Veterinary Hospital, where the staff called the county's animal control agency and 9-1-1.

After Federal Way Police officers went to the veterinarian's office, it was determined the best action to take was euthanize the dog, which was in obvious pain, officials said.

King County Animal Services took the body, documented its wounds and kept its fabric collar before disposing of the dog. That last step has riled people who say the agency botched the investigation.

A spokesman for the agency defended the disposal, saying a necropsy (an animal autopsy) wasn't necessary.

Representatives of Pasado's Safe Haven, an animal welfare group based in Sultan, has criticized the county agency and the Federal Way Police Department, claiming they haven't done enough to find the perpetrator.

Al Dams, assistant manager for King County Animal Services, called the criticism "unfair" and said the agency is doing its job properly.

"Of course we take (the case) seriously," he said.

A necropsy wasn't performed because it wouldn't reveal any more evidence, according to Dams.

The burns on the dog were caused by a caustic substance, and the cause of death was the euthanasia, he said.

When asked why the collar wasn't tested for information about the substance, Dams said testing wouldn't point to who may have been responsible for the dog's injuries. If the collar needs to be tested, it will be, he said.

On its Web site, Pasado Safe Haven urged people to e-mail local and national news organizations and laid out "talking points" for letter writers. The Mirror has received more than 40 such letters from throughout Washington and other states.

Police and animal services officials took statements from the veterinary staff, the puppy's owner and neighbors after the dog's death.

Police spokeswoman Stacy Flores said the owner wasn't aware the puppy had gotten out of its yard. The dog was found almost a block from its home.

Dams said Monday the county agency's officials were still talking to neighbors to learn if anyone saw what happened to the dog. A witness or a confession is what is needed to solve the case, he said.

Since the case involves animal cruelty, it was turned over to animal services, Flores said.

Source: Federal Way Mirror - March 21, 2006
Update posted on Mar 21, 2006 - 5:04PM

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Last Friday, a Good Samaritan brought in a 4-month-old pit bull puppy to the Valley Animal Hospital in Auburn with its skin falling off from being dipped possibly in acid.

Dr. Ivy Engstrom, the veterinarian at the clinic first sedated and eventually euthanized the dog after 80 percent of its skin burned off from the acid.

But now, Engstrom and other workers at the clinic believe the animal abuse investigation is being bungled.

"It brought everyone in here to tears," says Chris Tolman, a veterinarian assistant. "We still have nightmares. It was that bad and we see a lot in here."

The medial workers at the clinic believe the dog was deliberately dipped in acid. It was found by the Good Samaritan in a fenced in backyard in Federal Way - a yard that didn't belong to the dog's owner. The dog's owner told police he didn't know it was missing.

"If this was an accident, a rational person would have rushed that animal in to give it some attention. This dog was taken and thrown into somebody else's back yard," says Engstrom.

Engstrom says they've had trouble with investigators ever since they handed over the dog's body to animal control for the investigation.

"We've had trouble getting the local police to take it seriously," says Engstrom. "Not only is this a severe animal abuse case, what risk is it to the kids and people in that same area."

Engstrom and Tolman believe King County Animal Control has compromised the case because the dog's remains were cremated before the equivalent of an autopsy was done to determine what kind of acid maimed the dog.

"I'm so angry. Everyone seems to be dropping the ball. There goes the evidence," says Tolman.

For its part, the Assistant Manager for King County Animal Control Al Dams says photographs and accounts of people who came in contact with the dog are enough evidence.

"For safety control and disease interests, we had the body cremated," Dams said. "We don't need the body to show there was pain and suffering on the animal, that's obvious."

But Dams admits, the forensic equivalent to an autopsy was not done before the cremation. He says what's need is an eyewitness to come forward or for the abuser to confess.

"Unlike a human, a dog can't point the finger and say 'he did it'. That's why it takes an eyewitness to the abuse to lead to an arrest," says Dams.

"People are assuming that someone intentionally did this to the dog, there's always a possibility that it could have been an accident. You know. We can't assume until we have someone tell us otherwise," says Dams.

Pasado's Safe Haven is offering a reward of $10,000 for information leading to an arrest.

Source: KOMO News - March 17, 2006
Update posted on Mar 18, 2006 - 2:57PM

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Valley Animal Hospital vets, who euthanized the puppy, called Pasado�s Safe Haven for help prior to the news release of the case. Mark Steinway (co-founder of Pasado�s Safe Haven) and Larry Brothers (Humane Investigator) attempted to call King County Animal Control repeatedly, leaving multiple messages, in an attempt to assure that the body of the puppy was not cremated. Pasado�s routinely offers full funding for all veterinary medical necropsies and toxicology reports for law enforcement and prosecutors. Our sources today tell us the body WAS cremated, destroying all evidence.

Although intentional animal cruelty is a Felony in Washington State, according to Pasado�s sources, King County Animal Control and the Federal Way Police Department cremated the body of the puppy before a necropsy (animal autopsy) or toxicology tests could be conducted. �The law enforcement entities, responsible for investigating such an egregious crime, simply threw away the evidence,� says Larry Brothers, Humane Investigator for Pasado�s Safe Haven (a Monroe, Washington-based animal welfare agency). �Pasado�s passed the third animal cruelty law in three years in Washington State this last legislative session. What good are the laws if the investigators, paid to do their job, choose not to use them?�

Source: Pasado's Safe Haven - March 16, 2006
Update posted on Mar 16, 2006 - 11:15AM

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A big reward is being offered for whoever is responsible for a brutal attack on a puppy.

A local group is now offering $10,000 for information about who immersed the dog in acid, burning it so severely that a veterinarian had to put it down.

Reward posters are going up in Federal Way.

Veterinarians who put the four-month old puppy to sleep believe someone soaked it in acid. The smell was so strong, some of the vet's staff had to go to the hospital themselves.

The veterinarians who tried to treat the four-month-old pit bull named Mooey are so traumatized by what they saw, they're demanding justice.

Dr. Ivy Engstrom says, �I want whoever did this to be prosecuted. If they did this to a dog, what are they going to do to kids?�

REWARD INFORMATION:
If you have information, contact Pasado's Safe Haven.

Mooey was barely alive when she was spotted in a Federal Way backyard by a little girl, several doors down from where the puppy lived.

Doris Carlson lives several doors down from where the puppy lived, �My little great-granddaughter, who is four, said 'There�s a puppy in our backyard!� We went out there and looked and there it was!�

Mooey's fur and skin was literally falling off. Carlson says Mooey was, �just bloody. Paws and hair all falling off.�

They wrapped the pup up, racing to the Animal Hospital. Even though the dog was wagging her tail, she was in agony. The doctors took pictures of the the acid burns.

Chris Tolman from the Valley Animal Hospital says saving the puppy would have been difficult. �Every inch of her skin would have needed a transplant,� he said. �There was nothing to save!�

The owner of the puppy tells KIRO he believes someone took it from his yard, after dousing it with acid.

Marcel Jones said, �They said it could�ve been possibly someone threw something on the dog, through the fence.�

Federal Way police are trying to figure out if the dog was soaked in Muriatic acid, which you use to clean concrete, and it's also an ingredient in methamphetamine.

Source: KIRO TV - March 16, 2006
Update posted on Mar 16, 2006 - 11:12AM

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References

	King County Journal
	Pasado's Safe Haven - 2006

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Puppy severely burned with acidFederal Way, WA (US)

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Puppy severely burned with acid
Federal Way, WA (US)