(Photo by Terry Clark) A tortured dog was found on the side of the road yesterday in Dunbarton, its muzzle strapped shut by three plastic locking utility ties.  He was in a skeletal condition and his breathing severely distressed as he was grasping for air and couldn’t breathe. It appears he was just abandoned and left for dead.

Wire cutters had to be used to cut the plastic locking ties off his muzzle. Even after the removal of the ties he wouldn’t eat or drink.

 (Photo by Terry Clark) The spotted the brindled boxer lying off the side of Blackbrook Road, just off Route 13.

The women eventually got the dog to the Manchester Animal Shelter, where a veterinarian happened to be on duty. He examined the dog and determined that, in addition to malnutrition, the dog was suffering with pneumonia.

 (Photo by Terry Clark) The Boxer has been placed through the shelter with a foster family.

Police checked the town’s dog license database, but found no matches for a brindled boxer.

Police are asking someone to come forward and provide information; it’s hard to follow-up on a case like this. Authorities said, It’s hard to tell if this dog is just a dog someone didn’t want and abandoned, in a very cruel way, or maybe it’s a dog that didn’t belong to the person who tied it up, but who did the straps for other reasons, more malicious reasons.

Anyone who may have information about this dog is urged to call Dunbarton Police.

(Photo's by Terry Clark)

Update 3/24/04:  The boxer dog, known as Fraser, was found along Black Brook Road on March 3. Plastic wire ties bound the snout and genitals. The brindle brown boxer was suffering from pneumonia, dehydration and malnutrition when it was discovered not far from Route 13. It was unable to eat or drink.

“We received information from a source that was familiar with Cere who indicated that they believed her boxer was the one that was seen on the news,” said Dunbarton police chief Jeff Nelson. He said Cere had no obvious connection to the town where the dog was found. Cere turned herself in at the Dunbarton Police Department and was cooperative with investigators, according to Nelson.

Cere was released on a combination of $300 cash and $5,000 personal recognizance bail. She was charged with a Class B felony and a Class A misdemeanor of cruelty to animals. Beating or torturing an animal is a felony on the first offense, punishable by up to seven years in prison and up to $4,000 in fines. An arraignment is set for April 20 in Concord District Court.

Fraser was taken to the Manchester Animal Shelter for treatment after it was found. The dog had a skeletal appearance and had trouble breathing. This week the dog was taken to Second Chance Boxer Rescue (http://www.secondchanceboxer.com) in Maine, where he will continue to recover and be matched with a foster home.

A reward fund set up to seek information about the abuse has grown to more than $12,000.  Harold Beaulieu of Manchester committed $5,000 to the fund. “I am delighted to death,” Beaulieu said after learning about the arrest. He said he spends a lot of time and money to help abandoned animals and get stray cats off the streets.

The Concord-Merrimack County SPCA handles the reward fund. The Humane Society added $2,500 to the fund. “This crime is truly horrific,” said Joanne Bourbeau, director of the HSUS New England Regional Office. “Anyone who could do this to a defenseless animal is a real danger not only to other animals, but potentially to the human members of the community as well.”

According to the Second Chance Boxer Web site, Fraser is “settling in nicely,” and is still being treated for pneumonia. The dog was still coughing at last report, but has regained some weight. He is a 50-pound 2-year-old, purebred boxer, brindle and brown in color with white paws and a white chest.

Nelson said the investigation into Cere was in the early stages and he declined to comment on her background.

Update 5/13/04:  Cere waived her right to a probable cause hearing at District Court so the case has been bound over to Superior Court, docket number 04s-543. The Merrimack County Attorney John Weld, now has to decide if this case will proceed.

Update 11/5/04:  A Manchester woman accused of torturing a dog earlier this year has been ticketed in Manchester for allegedly letting another dog under her care run loose.

Manchester police said they cited Melissa Cere , 23, of 175 Boynton St., for letting a white poodle run free.

Cere is facing a felony animal cruelty charge in the case of Fraser, the boxer found in Dunbarton with a plastic utility tie clamped around his muzzle.  She is scheduled for trial in Merrimack County Superior Court in the second week of January.

Merrimack County Attorney Dan St. Hilaire, who is prosecuting the Fraser case, said nothing prevents Cere from owning or caring for another dog.  "I already checked on her bail conditions," St. Hilaire said. "Unfortunately, it's not a condition of bail."  But if Cere is found guilty of animal cruelty, St. Hilaire said he will request that a judge prohibit her from owning pets as part of her sentence.

Cere does not have a listed telephone number, and no one appeared to be at home when visited by a reporter recently. A for-sale sign stands in front of the property.

According to Manchester police records, they were called on the afternoon of Aug. 12 after a neighbor, Howard Darms, of 159 Boynton St., found a white poodle running around.  There was no indication the animal was mistreated, and it was taken to the Manchester Animal Shelter, said Dennis Walsh, Manchester animal control officer.

Cere claimed the dog at the shelter a couple of days later.  Ken Murphy, director of the animal shelter, said Cere said the dog was her mother's dog. He said the dog looked to be in good shape.

Cere never paid her dog-at-loose fine and did not show up for a hearing in Manchester District Court on Sept. 13.  She has been placed in default, which adds a $50 administrative fee to whatever fine is eventually decided. The default could also hinder renewal of a driver's license.

The Union Leader reported in June that Fraser has found a home in Rome, Maine, and has been renamed Dewy by his new owner.

Update 8/15/05:  Cere plead guilty to binding her dog's mouth shut and abandoning it in Dunbarton and was sentenced to two years at the Merrimack County House of Corrections with all but 90 days suspended, said Merrimack County Attorney Dan St. Hilaire, who prosecuted the case.  Cere will be on probation for two years and cannot own a pet during that time.  She must also serve 300 hours of community service and receive counseling, St. Hilaire said.

Cere will begin serving her sentence immediately.

Update 8/29/05:  A Hooksett resident, who together with a co-worker provided police with the name of a woman later convicted of torturing her brindle boxer, wants to know what happened to the $12,000 reward.  It appears it is a case of people not following through on their pledges.

Lisa Boczanowski of Hooksett and Kelli Vallier of Manchester told Dunbarton police the dog belonged to a co-worker, Melissa Cere, of Manchester. At the time, all three women worked at a kennel in Amherst.

The story of the tortured dog outraged the public and soon Dunbarton police were deluged with calls from people wanting to adopt the dog, help pay for his medical costs or put up reward money.

Dunbarton Chief Jeff Nelson said town counsel advised the department it could not set up a reward fund. As a result, it forwarded all those calls to the Concord-Merrimack County SPCA.  Nelson acknowledged that at one time people had committed or pledged more than $10,000 toward the reward.

However, Lynn O'Bara, SPCA office manager, said the only money the non-profit group ever received for the reward was $887. That money, she said, was kept in a separate fund.

When Dunbarton police sent a letter to the SPCA informing them the two women should receive the reward, O'Bara said they were sent the money.  O'Bara said a Manchester man pledged $5,000 but the agency never received it.

Harold Beaulieu was the Manchester man who said he was contributing $5,000 for the reward. Calls placed by the New Hampshire Union Leader to his home went unanswered.

O'Bara also said the U.S. Humane Society of New England put up a $2,500 reward of their own.  Nelson said the New England agency was thrilled with the prospect of paying the reward. They told him they had never paid one before.   That organization told Boczanowski they will be paying her and Vallier.

As for the $12,000 amount mentioned in newspaper and television reports, O'Bara said, "I don't know where that came from."  She has been with the SPCA for 5½ years and said this was the first time the agency paid a reward.

Boczanowski said when she and Vallier provided the information to police, they did not know there was a reward. She said when she first saw the abused dog on a television newscast she did not recognize it.  "I don't think anyone would," she said. "He looked like a skeleton with skin stretched over it."  A week later, however, she said another broadcast showed a now healthier boxer re-named "Fraser."

She knew immediately it was "Tyson," the dog Cere brought to work each day.  She asked Cere if she had heard about the abused brindle boxer and told her it looked like Tyson.  Cere told her she gave the dog away.   She also told her she had never been to Dunbarton. Boczanowski thought that was strange.  She and Vallier contacted police, told them what they knew and Cere was later charged.

Reference:

The Union Leader

The Concord Monitor

WMUR Channel 9 News

Foster’s Daily Democrat

SC Boxer Rescue