 "Photo: Peyton McGee/The Daily Texan")
The body of a female dog was found burned and mutilated near a Dumpster in North Austin, and the national animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is offering a $2,500 reward for information on the dog’s killer.
A vigil in memory of the dog was held at the Dumpster on Balcones Club Drive on Friday.
Attendees included animal rights activists, Austin residents and several television stations. Those who attended wore black, brought flowers and lit candles in order to honor the life of the dog and all of the other animals who have lost their lives due to animal cruelty.
“Although Austin seems like a really pet-friendly place, there are still many that are enormously cruel to animals.” said Ernest Samudio, Action For Animals organizer. “This is a prime example of how horrible someone treated an animal and then just left it by a Dumpster.”
Two weeks ago, Austin resident and group member Vicki McCauley said she found a dog’s body by a Dumpster near her place of business. The body was stuffed into several trash bags, wrapped in a blanket and severely burned around the face and back. The dog’s feet were also bound with rope and much of her fur was missing. McCauley said she immediately called the Austin Police Department.
APD and Austin Animal Control both responded to the call but refused to touch the animal because it was already dead and needed to be picked up by Solid Waste Services. The body remained by the Dumpster for four days, McCauley said.
McCauley said because the dog was a pit bull it is plausible that the dog was involved in pit bull fighting groups and did not perform the way she should have.
“Often these pit bulls are people’s pets and they are stolen by these dog-fighting groups and used as bait to train the stronger animals,” said Austin resident Cindy Marabito.
McCauley described the experience of finding the dog as gruesome and sad. She said dog fighting is ubiquitous in neighborhoods all around Austin and not just in East Austin.
“My first thoughts were ‘Why would anybody do that?’” McCauley said. “This really bothered me, and I want people to be aware that this is happening.”
McCauley, a member of Action for Animals, has been a part of animal protests for several years. She has protested the slaughtering of seals, animal testing and has even set up petitions at the circus.
“The only way these fighting groups are going to stop is by bringing attention to them and putting the spotlight on them,” said group member Karina Hilliard. “She reported it to the police and animal control and all they can say is that it is under investigation.”
The vigil ended with the group forming a circle and lighting fireworks. Attendants could sign up to be a part of an e-mail group in order to stay updated and come up with ideas in order to find the dog’s killer.
“Maybe we could put signs up by the Dumpster that say no dog-fighting or dog-torturing,” Marabito said.
Action for Animals is still investigating the murder of the dog and passed out flyers during the vigil and posted them around the neighborhood.
“Someone had to have seen something,” McCauley said. “I’m not going to accept the fact that no one saw anything and that we aren’t going to find the person that did this.”
This was probably not their first dog to torture and not their last.
Our police have got to take this seriously.