Case Details

Puppy thrown onto cooking grill
Columbia, SC (US)

Incident Date: Sunday, Oct 1, 2006
County: Lexington
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted
Charges: Felony CTA
Case Images: 1 files available

Abuser/Suspect: Adan Gonzalez

Case Updates: 5 update(s) available

Case ID: 9693
Classification: Burning - Fire or Fireworks
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
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A $3,500 reward is being offered for information in the case of a puppy which was thrown in a cooking grill.

The puppy was found October 1 at the Hacienda Mobile Home Park in Pontiac. Members of the Humane SCPA in Columbia, South Carolina, say a 10 to 12 week old boxer puppy was thrown into the fire of a large steel grill. Someone who was in the area at the time removed the puppy from the grill.

"It'd been burned pretty bad," said Josh Gowans, the Executive Director of the local Humane Society. It was only 10-12 weeks old and that's a tough thing for a puppy to go through."

The boxer puppy died in a horrific way according to Gowans, Executive Director of the Humane Society. The incident took place at the Hacienda Mobile Home Park Sunday afternoon during a fish fry.

Gowans says the dog was placed inside a grill. He says the fire was so hot that sixty percent of the dog's body was covered in burns.

Gowans says a bystander removed the puppy from the grill. Tina Fulton says the dog ran to her home. She and her son drove the severely injured dog to the nearby Palmetto Regional Emergency Hospital for Animals. The dog's burns were treated there.

Tina Fulton said, "His paws were burned up and his fingernails were burned off."

Sadly, the boxer died. Gowans says most of the people who witnessed the incident are Spanish Speaking people. Therefore, language is a barrier.

Gowans said, "It's hard to say if it was intentional in placing the puppy in the grill. We've gotten conflicting reports as to if it was intentional or an accident."

If this incident was intentional, investigators still need more concrete information in order to file charges.

Folks like Tina are hoping the culprit is prosecuted. She says the dog just didn't deserve to die.

Tina said, "It's an innocent animal just like a child."

The SCPA says they're trying to positively identify the suspect.

The reward is being offered for information which leads to an arrest and conviction. Anyone with information should call the Humane Society at 783-1267 or e-mail to [email protected].

Case Updates

A judge has sentenced a man for killing a puppy on a grill last fall.

Adan Gonzalez was sentenced to three years in prison. He faced a maximum of five years.

Gonzalez threw the puppy on a grill during a fish-fry at the Hacienda Mobile Home Park on October 1, 2006.

Someone who was in the area at the time then removed the dog from the grill. The dog ran to a nearby home and was driven to an emergency animal hospital. Lady, a 12 week-old boxer puppy, had burns on more than 60 percent of her body. She died a few days later.

Gonzalez, who lived in the same mobile home park as Lady and her guardian, pled guilty to one felony count of animal cruelty last week.
Source: WLTX.com - June 7, 2007
Update posted on Jun 12, 2007 - 1:03PM 
A Richland County man accused of burning a puppy on a grill will be back in court next month. Adan Gonzalez is charged with animal cruelty.

He's accused of putting a 12-week-old boxer named Lady on a grill in a trailer park in Pontiac last fall.

Lady died from her burns.

Gonzalez was scheduled to enter a plea in court Monday morning, but it was postponed until June 11th due to a scheduling conflict. He faces up to five years in prison.
Source: WIStv - April 30, 2007
Update posted on Apr 30, 2007 - 8:28PM 
A second court appearance has been scheduled for the man who admitted to throwing a puppy on a grill in October. According to the Attorney General's Office, Adan Gonzalez will be back in court on March 22nd.

That's when he will have to declare whether or not he will plead guilty or if he wishes to go to trial. He is charged with felony animal cruelty.
Source: WIStv - Jan 12, 2007
Update posted on Jan 19, 2007 - 2:25AM 
A bond hearing for 28-year-old Adan Gonzalez took place at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. A judge set bond at $10,000 surety, which means Adan will have to come up with the entire amount to get out of jail.

Adan Gonzalez was arrested Wednesday evening. He lives in the same mobile home park as the dog owner. The sheriff's department says he admitted to throwing the puppy on the grill but doesn't know why he did it. He is charged with a felony count of animal cruelty.

The puppy's name was Lady, a 12-week-old pure-breed boxer puppy. She was treated for burns over 60 percent of her body.

Lady had a fighting chance to live because of Tina Fulton, "The puppy came running from back there and came here up under my porch and I got up and grabbed it. I could tell it was burnt- paws burnt and finger nails melted off."

Tina Fulton tried to ease the boxer puppy's pain, "I was beside myself. I just grabbed it, took it inside and put burn cream on its paws and wrapped it in a towel and told my son, 'Let's take it to the vet.'"

"You could still smell the burning flesh and she was screaming in pain," says Dr. Kennerly Bast.

While they cleaned and bandaged her wounds, giving her medicine for her pain, Dr. Bast says, "she began licking and kissing all over the staff members. She was just the sweetest dog, even though she was in excruciating pain."

The person responsible will be evicted from the mobile home park.

Lady is undergoing a necropsy, an autopsy for animals. The results should be ready later this week. Josh Gowan of the Humane Society tells WIS, "Obviously we know what cause of death is but we received other information that warranted taking the dog and taking a much closer look at it."

As for the dog owner, his landlord is going to buy him a new puppy, just like Lady.

If you have any additional information on the case, you can call the Humane Society at (803) 783-1267.
Source: WIStv - Oct 5, 2006
Update posted on Oct 8, 2006 - 2:06PM 
A man who Richland County deputies say threw a boxer puppy into a burning barbecue grill is behind bars.

Deputies arrested 28-year-old Adan Gonzalez Wednesday evening. They say Gonzalez admitted to picking up the dog at a neighborhood fish-fry at the Hacienda Mobile Home Park Sunday afternoon and tossing into the fire.

Someone who was in the area at the time then removed the dog from the grill. The dog ran to a nearby home and was driven to an emergency animal hospital. It had burns on more than 60 percent of its body. The puppy died from those burns Monday.

Lt. Chris Cowan with the Richland County Sheriff's Office says Gonzalez has admitted to the crime, but won't say why he did it.

Gonzalez is being held at the Richland County Jail.
Source: WLTX - Oct 4, 2006
Update posted on Oct 4, 2006 - 9:35PM 

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9 News  - Oct 3, 2006

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