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CALIFORNIA |
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Two Oakland boys were in custody yesterday for allegedly setting
a 3-month-old pit- bull terrier on fire after forcing it to
fight another dog.
The youths, ages 12 and 15, told police they threw flammable
material on the stray dog Tuesday afternoon after it beat
another pit bull puppy in a fight they staged outside an East
Oakland apartment building, said police Sgt. Arturo Bautista. |
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One of the boys cares for the female puppy that lost the fight,
and the attack may have been the boys' revenge, authorities
said. A third boy, age 14, is also being sought in the case.
The injured puppy suffered burns on one-fourth of its body,
including on its face, back and legs, and was recuperating
yesterday at the Veterinary Centers of America Bay Area Animal
Hospital in North Oakland.
Veterinarians at the hospital have named the hapless, 19-pound
puppy Theodore and have been giving it painkillers and
antibiotics intravenously, feeding it high-calorie food and
applying soothing aloe vera on its skin.
The injured puppy is about six pounds underweight, slightly
emaciated and already suffered from mange before its ordeal,
said veterinarian Carl Singer.
"He's really pretty strong," Singer said. "He may not need
surgery."
The puppy will probably stay at the animal hospital for three to
seven days before it is transferred to the Oakland Animal
Shelter on 29th Avenue in East Oakland. There, animal control
officials will decide whether the puppy can be adopted.
After the puppy won the fight about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the boys
sprayed him with some material from a canister, threw flammable
material on the puppy and ignited it with a match, Bautista
said.
The boys then chased the dog into a vent underneath an apartment
building at 1436 71st Ave. in East Oakland, where part of the
building also caught fire, Bautista said.
Firefighters quickly doused the blaze. It was unclear whether
the flaming dog set the building on fire or if the boys started
the building fire.
Animal control officers took the other dog, which had some
previous scars but was uninjured in the fight, to the Oakland
Animal Shelter.
Two of the boys were taken into custody on suspicion of felony
cruelty to animals and attempted arson. They were being held at
Alameda County Juvenile Hall in San Leandro. Because of their
ages, their names were withheld.
Relatives of the 15-year-old boy said he had a soft spot for
animals and couldn't fathom him doing what authorities allege.
Case Updates
Posted: Jan 8, 2003 - 4:50 PM
A third accomplice, 15-year-old boy who admitted to a felony
charge of dog fighting, has been released but will wear an
electronic monitoring device.
He will be sentenced on the 14th of Feb.
All three will undergo psychological evaluations and could face
up to three
years in a juvenile detention facility, says Alameda County
Assistant
District Attorney Walter Jackson.
References
SF Gate News
www.petabuse.com
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