AR-News: (US AZ) Teen faces charges in dog's death

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0205animalabuse.html

Senta Scarborough
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 5, 2004 12:00 AM
GUADALUPE - A 15-year-old boy may face criminal charges after he used his 
shoelaces to hang a stray dog and read a book for 20 minutes while the animal 
died, authorities said Wednesday.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office referred the case to juvenile court. The 
boy, whose name is being withheld by investigators, is accused of one count 
of animal abuse. He has not been detained by authorities. 

The dog died of strangulation on Jan. 25 after being hung in the teenager's 
back yard in the 8400 block of South Calle Tomi. Sheriff's deputies received 
information about the case two days after the incident, and the animal cruelty 
unit investigated.

"It has been well-documented that a lot of killers in prison and jails start 
out killing animals," said Sheriff Joe Arpaio. "This is a vicious kind of 
killing of the poor dog. . . . This has become a big problem, especially with 
young people." Arpaio said three months ago he changed his policy concerning 
animal abuse cases. "We don't give them a ticket. Anybody that abuses animals will 
be locked up and put in jail," he said. "We have to protect our animals." 

The sheriff's office has six investigators dedicated to such investigations. 
The animal cruelty unit was formed about three years ago. 

Sgt. Paul Chagolla said the teenager told deputies that he killed the dog 
because he was angered after the dog chewed on his clothes.

Investigators said the boy's parents were not home at the time of the 
incident. Officials said the teenager is on probation but the charges did not include 
animal cruelty.









"The world is a dangerous place,
not because of those who do evil,
but because of those who look on and do nothing.",
Albert Einstein

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