Sad Stories I found **SAD**

[PitBullie09]

Two young boys, aged 11 and 14, are now accused of a gruesome crime...taking a stray puppy off the street and burning it to death in a BBQ grill behind an abandoned building.

"First they lit up the grill, then they put the dog in it. The dog jumped out of the grill and he was on fire," said witness Dregis Freeman.

10-year-old Freeman saw the whole thing. Upset by what happened, the young witness ran to a neighbor's house for help. But by the time police arrived, the burned puppy was dead.

"[The puppy] was probably 8-10 weeks old...he was charred really bad. Who knows why they did it, and why would a child have that kind of anger or meanness to do something like that?" said Springfield Police Officer Chuck Bilyeu.

Police say that after lighting the grill, one of the boys lifted the lid and the puppy jumped out. He only made it a few feet before he died.

Springfield Police Lt. William Watkins said, "I think it's a shame . They had nothing better to do than to torture a dog."

Police have charged the two boys with aggravated animal cruelty. But the burned puppy isn't the only dog those boys allegedly tortured. According to investigators, the kids broke into the city's animal shelter several days earlier and stole a Shar-pei puppy. Police found it badly bleeding after being cut in the left front leg.

"None of the boys I talked to ever admitted they did it, even though they'd been seen earlier that day with the puppies," said Officer Bilyeu.

The Shar-pei is recovering in the care of a rescue group. Officers say more charges could be pending.

A new law just passed by state legislators in May has made aggravated animal abuse a felony in Tennessee. Police told News 2 that more charges are pending against the two teens, and possibly several others.
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man has been charged with killing his neighbor's 2-pound miniature Yorkshire terrier by place-kicking it into the air like a football. Chad Daniel Crawford, 23, was booked on charges of cruelty to animals and felony vandalism. He was freed after posting $25,000 bond.

Jelani Lewis and Jessica McKenzie said they were shocked and outraged by the death of their 17-year-old dog, Gizmo.

Lewis was on the grounds of his apartment complex Tuesday when he said he saw one of three men holding the dog like a football.

"The other one backed up and kicked him like a place-kicker,'' said Lewis, who couldn't get there fast enough to save his pet.

Gizmo flew through the air in a high arc, hit the pavement and rolled a few feet beneath a parked car. The dog was dead when he hit the ground and the men were laughing, Lewis said.

"I didn't believe that they kicked my dog,'' Lewis told The Tennessean newspaper. "When I saw him kick it, I was thinking, maybe for a second, 'No, that isn't Gizmo.''

Lewis said he chased the men and caught Crawford, then made him pick up Gizmo's body and take it upstairs to McKenzie.

Lewis said he held Crawford until police arrived. Only Crawford has been charged.

Contacted by telephone at his home, Crawford said the accusations against him were false. He declined further comment and said he was trying to contact an attorney.

Judy Ladebauche, Metro Animal Control Director said she would ask prosecutors to upgrade the charges against Crawford to the state's newly created aggravated animal cruelty charge. Under the new law, a conviction can result in a court-ordered mental evaluation for the offender and a second offense is a felony.


Case Updates
Posted: Oct 28, 2004 - 9:33 AM

Two men charged with holding and kicking a dog like a football, killing it, have pleaded innocent to animal cruelty charges.

Twenty-one-year-old Michael Davis and 24-year-old Chad Crawford were arraigned yesterday in Davidson County Criminal Court on charges of aggravated cruelty to animals and the intentional killing of an animal.

Crawford is accused of kicking the 16-year-old Yorkshire terrier.

Source: WVLT-TV



Posted: Oct 19, 2004 - 5:48 PM

The man accused of performing the duties of a ''placeholder'' in a bizarre dog-kicking incident — which police say killed Gizmo, a Yorkshire terrier — has been indicted in the dog's death.

Michael Lee Davis, 21, of the 300 block of Delvin Drive in Nashville, was indicted on charges of intentional killing of an animal and aggravated cruelty to animals. He was arrested Oct. 7 and booked on the charges through Nashville's night court.

Davis' indictment occurred alongside that of the accused kicker, Chad Daniel Crawford, 24, who also was indicted in September by the Davidson County grand jury on the same charges.

According to police, Crawford kicked the 16-year-old dog high into the air on April 5 and caused it to die. The pet's owner said Crawford kicked Gizmo while Davis knelt to the ground, in a setup similar to the one employed by football players kicking field goals.

A third man, whom the owner spotted with Davis and Crawford, has never been publicly identified by authorities and has not been charged with any crime.

Reached yesterday by telephone at his Nashville employer, Axis Direct, Davis declined to comment. ''I have nothing to say about that,'' Davis said. An attempt to reach Crawford's Nashville attorneys was not successful.

Davis is out of jail through a pretrial release program. Crawford was arrested the day after Gizmo's death but was soon freed after posting $25,000 bail. Both men are set for an Oct. 27 arraignment on the charges. Further court dates have not been set, though it could be next year before there is a trial, said Kristen Shea, a Davidson County assistant district attorney general.

Since the April 5 incident, Gizmo's story has continued to stir response from animal lovers nationwide.

Reached yesterday by telephone, one of the dog's owners, Jelani Lewis, said that above all else, he wants the suspects to confess so he can find some peace from the loss.

''I want all three to understand what they did was wrong,'' Lewis said. ''That is the most important thing for me. I don't think that they understand that.''

Police reports say that on the night of the incident, Davis told them that Crawford had kicked Gizmo.

Lewis said the dog's death occurred when he took out the trash at his Nashboro Village apartment complex the night of April 5, when he also let an unleashed Gizmo go to a nearby grassy spot.

Lewis said he heard whimpering, and then shortly thereafter, watched helplessly as Davis knelt and held Gizmo as a football player would hold a football for a kicker.

Crawford took a running start and kicked Gizmo high into the air until the small dog smacked the pavement in the parking lot and his small frame rolled underneath a parked car, he said.

Source: The Tennessean - Oct 13, 2004



Posted: Jun 13, 2004 - 11:19 AM

Jelani Lewis and his wife Jessica , owners of Gizmo, are asking a court to award them $20,000 in punitive and compensatory damages for his death. The suit names as defendants Chad Daniel Crawford, charged by police with kicking the dog, along with two other men, and Nashboro Village Apartments,where the couple lives.

When asked about the money, Jelani Lewis said, ''that's not even important. Whatis important is that all three individuals are prosecuted to the fullest and then getting new laws that this state should have on record.''

Stephen S. Ogle, Crawford's attorney, said Crawford did not kill Gizmo or kick the dog. Ogle said he thinks that a jury will find his client not guilty. Crawford moved out of the apartment complex and lost his job working at the apartments.

The two other men named in the civil suit are Micheal Lee Davis and Andrew Jacob Rothlisberger, both of which have not been charged of any crime. Lewis' lawsuit said all three men celebrated, saying the dog was ''so dead,'' and cheering when the dog was kicked into the air and killed.

Hearing's for Crawford, who was charged with misdeameanor cruelty to animals and felony vandalism, are scheduled for next week in the Davidson County General Sessions Court. Attorney Stephen Ogle filed court papers asking that the felony vandalism charge be changed to a misdemeanor. According to the police, the felony is based on the dog's value of $1,500. Ogle said Lewis demanded $400 from Crawford the night of his client's arrest. Furthermore, he said, the dog is not worth $500, a level of damage that causes a vandalism charge to become a felony.

''It's a vandalism case, and it has caused all this outrage because of a
piece of property that was a dog,'' Ogle said. ''If it was a mailbox, it
wouldn't have this kind of a furor. . Not to diminish what it feels like to
lose a dog, but that's not the test in the criminal case.''
------------------------------------*****UGH..
Raul Garza Aguilar, 45, was charged with cruelty to animals after he allegedly killed a 25 lb puppy with an axe.

A witness called 911 and said a man was beating a dog with the but of a BB gun and then used an axe. Other witnesses had said Aguilar had committed similar cruel acts to animals in the past. One witness alleged Aguilar slit the throat of a cat last week.

Bond set at $25,500 and Aguilar was released ont he misdemeanor cahrge.

[REBEL_LINDSEY09]

HEY THAT IS SO SAD..

[PitBullie09]

Dont type in all caps!

[Global Paw]

Rebel, typing in all caps is equal to shouting in real life..we ask that you don't shout, please turn your caps off.

[GSD]

You have to admit though, those stories might want to make you shout, at least a little

[PitBullie09]

Yea..All 3 of them made me so mad. GRRR..I wanna shout at the people.

[Ritz459]

That really ticks me off........ I don't understand how people can be so cruel....

[PitBullie09]

Me either..its so terrible..

[minpinsrock]

Yea.How can someone be so mean to a poor animal.

[PitBullie09]

I honestly dont know how they could be that mean. Heartless and cruel. People who do that need professional help.Some kid who can grill a dog is NOT normal.

[IceyBlueSibes]

I agree, but especially since it's a kid, means he has serious issues and may turn out to be not so pleasent when he gets older. Most murderers have had a past of beating and neglecting animals.

[PitBullie09]

Exactly i hope they put him with a counseler or something of the sort.

[gaddylovesdogs]

10 million smilies will never express my rage towards those that injure and kill the innocent.

[GoldenRetriever07]

Awww....that's sad!That's so mean! I heard of this one story of this dog that had been burned by this kids before, but had survived.

[PitBullie09]

Yea.Its aweful!