Staff report
WARREN
One block east of the house where five dogs and four kittens were found dead last Wednesday, Kelly Koziel found her dog’s neck had been cut with a knife Tuesday morning.
Koziel said she let the dog outside at 4:30 a.m., chaining it in the backyard at 2307 Hamilton Street SW.
When she returned 15 minutes later, there was blood splattered against the side of the house, and the dog, a miniature German shepherd named Puggley, was in a pool of blood. She and her fiance, John Skrtic Jr., put the dog in the house and called police.
Koziel and Skrtic took the dog to their veterinarian, who determined that the lacerations were a couple of inches deep. The veterinarian used staples to close the wound and charged Koziel nearly $350 for the medical procedure and medication.
“I literally had to pull my rent to pay for the surgery,” said Koziel. “It was severe. Any deeper and it would have been killed,” she said.
Koziel said she and Skrtic believe they know who cut the dog because of the pocket knife they found in the yard and a description of someone in their yard a few hours earlier. Police took the knife as evidence.
Comments
What kind of evil sick twisted freak would do this to a loving defenseless animal ?
I hope this sorry bastard is caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law which will not be harsh enough.
Deliberate crimes and abuse against any animal should be a felony offense with mandatory jail time .
God help you you sorry scumbag and you can believe your day will come to you and it won't be the least bit pleasent
If you don't believe in karma you need to start you filthy,gutless scum!!
What a pitiful excuse of DNA.
Steelwagon,
it's sad and sick that OUR legislators FAIL to provide strong laws/punishments once these monsters are caught and prosecuted!
lbf,
This sick individual needs to be punished... but the current animal cruelty statute, an M2, with its 90 days jail time and $750 fine - is punishment enough.
We can't clog up the courts (or the jails) by making cruelty to animals on a par with serious crimes against humans.
Unfortunately, that punishment is not enough. There's plenty of evidence that links cruelty to animals as the first stage of crimes against people. We need to encourage our legislators to create stronger laws to protect both humans and animals from whoever thinks this behavior is acceptable.
joy15,
We don't punish people for what they "might do in the future."
You cite no solid examples of how this punishment is out of synch with other punishments under Ohio Law.
Raising the level of this crime serves to muddy the waters of crimes against people and is not warranted.