By: N Gilbert
19-year-old Adell Zeigler and 17-year-old Diondre Brown, of Buffalo New York, were in court Wednesday, November 14, 2012 and are charged with felony-aggravated cruelty to animals. Zeigler and Brown burned an innocent 16-week old puppy named “Phoenix”.
A horrified woman had called the police after seeing something burning and realized it was a puppy. The suffering puppy, now named Phoenix, was found on Herman Street and was still burning.
Zeigler and Brown admitted to holding the helpless, frightened puppy three feet in the air, dousing him with lighter fluid and setting him on fire.
Phoenix, who staff at Buffalo Small Animal Hospital call a “trooper”, has recently “underwent his first of many surgeries to help repair the damage from extensive burns over his entire body. Veterinarians say 60% of his ears have been amputated and several more skin grafts are necessary. It's also still unclear if they will have to amputate one of his hind legs”. Dr. Rebecca Wagner, states, "He improves daily. He's doing quite well and he's taken everything in good strides."
The police were unable to locate the abusers until a break came in from a tip that lead to the arrest of Zeigler and Brown. Both men could face up to one-and-one-third to four years in prison.
Video Courtesy: WIVB.com 4 News
For more information: http://www.wkbw.com/video/Buffalo-Teens-Allegedly-Confess-to-Burning-Puppy-179383831.html
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/crime/Teens-face-judge-in-puppy-burning-case
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/crime/police-make-progress-on-burned-dog-case
Phoenix's abusers tortured him in the weeks before they set him on fire!
The charges stated that the two teenagers “did torture a Jack Russell terrier” while in the lower apartment of a home on Herman Street “by means of punching, kicking and throwing the puppy against the walls of the apartment.” When they doused it with lighter fluid, they both laughed, Zeigler told Militello and Sanford.
Asked by The News why his uncle told police Brown was responsible for setting the dog on fire, Brown said, “Because he’s already got felony [convictions] and doesn’t want that kind of [prison] time on him.”
In trying to come up with a motive, the detectives stated in their complaint that the two teens were involved in some kind of disagreement with the dog’s owner, who lived on the second floor of the drug house, and that they decided to get even with him by burning the dog. Brown denied that.
The puppy, named “Phoenix,” continues to make progress in its recovery, Dr. Miguel Diaz, a veterinarian at Buffalo Small Animal Hospital, said Monday. A decision will probably be made next week, Diaz said, on when to perform another skin graft. More than 50 percent of the dog’s body was burned in the attack.
Zeigler was released July 6 from a juvenile detention center in Otisville and directed by state parole officials to report to Grace House, a complex of homes on the 1900 block of Bailey Avenue for ex-convicts. But when he arrived he refused to cooperate and immediately left, according to the Rev. Terry J. King, executive director of Saving Grace Ministries, which operates the residence.
Animal abuse WILL NOT and SHOULD NOT be tolerated in ANY form!
Please sign and share the petition below:
http://www.change.org/petitions/honorable-city-court-judge-debra-givens-justice-for-burned-puppy-phoenix-2
See Phoenix's daily recovery from the wonderful people taking care of him at the City of Buffalo Animal Shelter:
https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofCBAS
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