Neighbors and businesses have raised $16,000 in reward money for information leading to the person or people responsible for the savage beating of a puppy found dead in January.
A community meeting was held Friday, marking a renewed effort to find who left the brutally beaten puppy hanging from a tree near the Sacramento River levee trail just north of 35th Avenue. They want people to come forward with anything they may have heard or seen.
“A puppy they heard screaming next door, maybe there’s a little black dog that was in the neighborhood that is no longer there,” neighbor Julia Virga said.
The renewed urgency comes after 17 people were killed in last month’s high school shooting in Florida.
“Somewhere around 50 percent of the mass school shooters all have histories of animal cruelty,” Chief Animal Control Officer Jace Huggins said.
There is also a correlation between animal abuse and those who commit child and domestic abuse.
“I’m really scared about is there a child in the home with the person who did this,” Huggins said. “Is there a partner who’s too scared to come forward?”
A key clue could be the leash found on the puppy.
“A Grateful Dead skull symbol in kind of smoke grey color. It’s not cheap and it’s not easily found,” Huggins said.
Right now, five police and animal control officers are working the case including a detective, resources the group believes is warranted.