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Torture of a several black Labrador retriever pups

Gautier, MS

July 20, 2006

  (Photo courtesy of the Mississippi Press)  A 16-month old black Labrador Retriever was found brutalized and left to suffer in Gautier, MS. Its eyes were sealed shut with glue, its mouth, throat and ears were glued, hind legs were broken in several places and appeared to have been starved.  Due to its condition, the dog was euthanized by a veterinarian.

The penalty for conviction of cruelty to an animal is a sentence up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.

Dr. Colleen Lennepof Pet Connection Town and Country Veterinary Hospital stated, "People who can do that to defenseless animals eventually think nothing of hurting a child or another person." That's why police shouldn't take such animal abuse cases lightly.

Update July 25, 2006:

The Humane Society of the United States and the Gautier Police are each offering rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who tortured the puppy. The reward offered is up to $3,000.

The glue was determined to be PVC pipe glue.

Animal cruelty is a misdemeanor crime and if convicted the abuser can face up to 6 months in jail and a fine.

Anyone with information on this case should contact the Gautier Police Department at 228-497-2486.

House Bill 710 and SEnate Bill 2410 were introduced in the 2006 session in Mississippi to expand the animal cruelty law and make the crime a felony penalty for cruelly beating, mutilating or intentionally killing an animal. Further it included Extreme deprivation of minimum care that causes critical physical injury to any living animal. The House Bill is slated to return to the House in 2007.

Gary Emerick found the dog whimpering in a taped shut diaper box outside the entrance of the Hickory Hill Nursery when he was getting putting air in his tires at the self-service car wash on Martin Bluff Rd. He named the dog Buddy. Emerick first took the dog home and called the Gauthier Police and the Jackson County Animal Control unit. When they told him they didn't know how long before they could go to his house, Emerick took the dog to Veterinarian Colleen Lennep.

Update 7/28/06:

Buddy the puppy was not the first puppy to be left for dead at the Hickory Hill Nursery. Paul Hammond, the owner of the plant nursery, said this as actually the 4th dog left on the property.

Hammond actually kept one of the dogs a long-haired mini dachshund and Doberman pinscher mix and nursed him back to health. The person who abandoned the dog had used a rubber band to dock the dog's tail. It was severely infected and the dog had been abused. The other two dogs were starved and sent to the pound.

Hammond reported that also dumped on the property was a mutilated shark with its fins, head and guts everywhere.

The reward for Buddy's abuser has increased and donations can be made to the Buddy Reward Fund at the Hancock Bank.

Update  8/4/06:

Private investigators Darren Versig and Rod Rodriguez have been investigating this crime after getting a time from someone at the Lima Drive FEMA Trailer Park.  They have traced the litter to Charlene Porter of Daylily St.  Buddy was from a litter of 7 dogs that after 3 of them became sick Porter kept one and gave the rest away to neighbors.  So some animal hater poisoned 3 of them with antifreeze.

2 of the pups were found in a ditch by Ashley McDaniel.  They were malnourished but otherwise okay, both are doing okay today.

Another Labrador pup was discovered tortured and abused on Fishhawk St.  The dog as nearly the same age as Buddy but was not from the same litter.  The owner found the dog at the end of her drive with its head beaten in by either a hammer or other blunt object.  Buddy was found almost directly across the street from this driveway.

Versiga is convinced that the perpetrator lives in what residents of the Lima Drive FEMA trailer park refer to as the “FEMA hood”.  What happened to these dogs are sadistic and the perpetrator needs to be caught stated Versiga.  The investigators are spending all their free time trying to catch this person.  It bothers them because Buddy was found in a diaper box, which says the perpetrator may have access to children.

The neighbors report that Buddy was a sweet and trusting pup so it wouldn’t have been hard for someone to get near him; everyone in the neighborhood fed him.

House Bill 710 and Senate Bill 2410 have been written to expand the animal cruelty law and provide a felony penalty for animal cruelty as a result of this case.

The reward for the prosecution of Buddy's torturer and the death of the other dogs has grown so much that they are no longer seeking more donations.

If anyone has any information on this case, please contact The Gautier Police Department at 228-497-2486 or Covert Investigations at 228-762-9622 or contact Darren Versiga at dversiga@aol.com.

Reference:

The Mississippi Press