Tag: animal cruelty

Pit Bull Hater Fatally Stabs Dog at PetSmart Adoption Event

Hoping she would find a forever home there, volunteers from the Newnan-Coweta Humane Society (NCHS) brought a Pit Bull named Clara to a PetSmart adoption event in Georgia Sunday.

Instead, the volunteers had to make the heartbreaking decision to have Clara euthanized after she was stabbed multiple times by an angered customer in the store.

Clara had broken free from her collar and bitten the ear of Craig Emory Hayes’ Yorkshire Terrier after the little dog growled at her.

Screaming “F–king Pit Bulls” over and over, Hayes pulled out a pocket knife and began plunging it into Clara’s neck, even after she released the Yorkie’s ear.

Horrified PetSmart customers who witnessed the attack described what they saw to the Newnan Times-Herald.

Erin Burr said Hayes had earlier told Clara’s handler, “If you bring that f–king Pit Bull near me, I’m going to stab it.”

Another customer, Kathy Stottlar, said Clara had bolted toward the Yorkie. “It was terrifying,” she said. “[Hayes] yelled, ‘Get the dog off or I will stab him.’ He said it several times.”

Teresa Reeves and her fiance, Mike Wohler, had come to the PetSmart event hoping to adopt a Pit Bull.

Reeves said Clara wasn’t viciously attacking the Yorkie, but nipping some loose skin on its neck. “Clara wasn’t clamped down on the dog,” she told the Times-Herald. Neither dog was moving.

“It could have easily been broken up,” Reeves said. Instead, Hayes started pushing and kicking Clara, “making things worse. The guy was just screaming, ‘F–king Pit Bull, why are you even allowed to have these dogs?’’’

When he began to stab Clara, Reeves tried to protect the dog by wrapping her arms around her.

Wohler was able to put his hands in Clara’s mouth, and a PetSmart employee used citronella spray and an air horn to make her release the Yorkie’s ear.

Still, Hayes continued his furious attack — even as his young son begged him to stop.

“He wasn’t stabbing like he was trying to save his dog. He was stabbing trying to kill this dog,” Reeves said.

With blood flowing from her wounds, Clara lay on the floor of PetSmart, wagging her tail as shocked customers petted her. She and the Yorkie were taken to the pet hospital inside the store.

Sandy Hiser, president of the NCHS, told the Times-Herald that Clara’s wounds were so severe “that if she did pull through, it would have impacted her quality of life.”

Clara had spent half of her life in a Peachtree City, Ga., boarding kennel, according to the Clicks for Clara Facebook page, which was created in January 2013 in an effort to help find her a forever home.

Hiser said the decision to euthanize her was heart-rending. “And the people who made it were the people that loved her and knew her the best.”

The Yorkie whose ear she bit was transferred to an emergency animal hospital, treated for a blood clot and released the next morning.

According to Hiser, a police officer who interviewed Hayes said he had the right to defend his dog. But was it necessary to stab Clara multiple times?

“He straight murdered this dog in front of 30, 40 people,” Wohler told the Times-Herald. “He didn’t like Pit Bulls. This just gave him the excuse he needed.”

Authorities in Coweta County are taking over the case, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Here’s hoping Hayes is charged with animal cruelty – and that he signs up ASAP for some anger-management sessions. Since it sounds like he has never actually been around a Pit Bull, perhaps volunteering with a shelter or rescue would quickly change his hateful view of the breed.

On New Year’s Eve last year, the following status was posted on the Clicks for Clara Facebook page:

“Are we going to make 2014 the year of my home…You bet we are!!! There is absolutely no reason to not adopt me…What are you waiting for???? I’m everything you could want in a companion.”

Rest in peace, Clara. If you were a Golden Retriever or Labrador, you’d probably still be alive to make this the year of your home.

NOV. 6, 2014 UPDATE: The Coweta County grand jury decided this week that no animal cruelty charges will be filed against Craig Emory Hayes, and the case is closed.

Photo via the Clicks for Clara Facebook page

Viral Facebook Photos of Dog Tied to Trailer Lead to Investigation

While stopped at a red light in Farragut, Tenn., Saturday, a driver spotted a Jack Russell Terrier sitting on the railing of a utility trailer attached to a Toyota Prius. A chain was wrapped tightly around the dog’s lower hind legs.

The driver snapped a picture of the dog. Someone else took another photo when Bob Hill, the Prius driver, emerged from his car and untangled the dog (but left him standing on the trailer, just a foot or two above the roadway).

Both photos were posted on social media, including the WBIR Channel 10 Facebook page.Within a few hours, the photos had been commented on and shared more than a thousand times, with most people demanding that criminal charges be filed against Hill.

The reaction caught the attention of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO), which is investigating the incident.

“We’re seeing a lot of how social media affects law enforcement,” Martha Dooley, a KCSO spokeswoman, told WBIR. “We can go back several months and talk about pictures that have been taken on crime scenes and how that makes a story explode. Well, look at this.”

Dooley said the KCSO is investigating how the dog was being transported — “If it is injuring the animal in any way and also how an animal is restrained. Is that causing pain or injury?”

She told WVLT that additional photos of the dog, taken from other angles, are being scrutinized by the KCSO.

According to a KCSO news release, Hill told animal cruelty officers that his dog, named Buddy, had been inside the car, but was whining and wanted to go outside. So Hill said he used the dog’s leash and collar to tie him to the trailer railing.

He said that as soon as he noticed Buddy’s situation, he got out and untangled him.

“We agree that placing the dog on the trailer was not the best choice,” Hill’s family said in a statement released to WBIR. “However, the pictures posted do not show an accurate representation of the events. The dog was thought to be secured safely and at no time was ‘hog-tied,’ and was being watched by the driver.”

Facebook commenters disagree. “There is no way in hell that dog hog-tied itself like that! If you think that’s possible, you’re crazy as the SOB that did it!” wrote one woman.

“I was in the white car pictured beside this jerk and yes, I will freely admit I called the police on him,” wrote another commenter. “This poor dog was scared to death, falling around, trying to get free, causing the rope to cut into his leg. The man had some kind of small black rope clipped to his collar, pulling his neck down towards his back leg, which was hog-tied to the trailer. This jerk had no passengers in his car and even had blankets on every seat. Even if he had passengers, this poor pup should have been inside the car.”

While many states have laws against transporting dogs on trailers and truck beds, Tennessee is not one of them.

“We highly recommend that you always put your animal in a crate,” Amy Johnston, director of the Young-Williams Animal Shelter in Knoxville, told WBIR. “If your car is not big enough for a crate, there are seatbelts that you can actually purchase for your pet.”

Fortunately, Buddy’s legs were not injured, according to the KCSO, which said it is keeping the district attorney’s office updated on its investigation.

“At no time was the dog ever harmed,” Hill’s family insisted in its statement. “It is very concerning to our family of the multiple postings of threats of verbal and physical attacks along with identifying the address of where they live. Our family loves all of our animals and we believe the safety of an elderly couple is also a great concern.”

Photos via Facebook

Exit mobile version