Mountaintop Natural Pets

Source: TelegraphUK, Nov 19, 2009

A Lithuanian man who threw a dog off a bridge has been hunted down by animal lovers who watched a video of the crime that the man posted online.

Police in the Lithuanian town of Kaunas arrested 22-year-old Svajunas Beniukas on animal cruelty charges after internet users helped police identify him and the bridge from which the small brown dog was thrown.

The video shows a man holding the dog, called Pipiras, Lithuanian for pepper, and laughing as his friend records the event on his mobile phone.

Checking that the coast is clear, he makes a joke about dogs flying and then drops the animal off the bridge.

Crashing onto a farm track below, Pipiras yelps in pain, and lies twitching on the ground.

But despite falling over 20 feet and sustaining multiple fractures and internal injuries, vets said the dog would survive.

“He’s lived with me for four to five years,” Petras Dunskaitis, the dog’s 70-year-old owner told a Lithuanian newspaper. “He didn’t deserve such a fate.”

Originally posted on a Lithuanian website, outrage at the treatment of the dog snowballed as the 40 seconds of footage spread across the globe, even making it to Facebook through the efforts of a 3,000-strong group calling itself the “Lithuanian Dog Support Group”.

Lithuanian police said a key breakthrough was tracing the local website, www.15min.it, where the footage originally appeared. The website’s users identified the man as Beniukas.

Local media reported that Beniukas may have sought revenge on the dog after it was suspected of killing some of his mother’s chickens.

He has been charged wtih animal cruelty and faces up to a year in jail.

Source: News-leader.com, October 12, 2009

Group offering reward for leads in Sept. 12 incident.

The first dog likely died on impact. A photo taken at the scene shows his body draped over the rock where he landed after being thrown from more than 60 feet above.

A second dog –a Newfoundland/retriever mix — suffered a broken leg and facial injuries and bit off a piece of his tongue when he and the other dog were apparently tossed from an overpass at James River Freeway on Sept. 12.

C.A.R.E. Animal Rescue is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the prosecution of the abuser. The group, meanwhile, is caring for the surviving dog, named Dover, until he’s ready to be adopted.

Outside the shelter at 1328 W. Sunshine on Wednesday, Dover lay in the back parking lot, a large green cast on his back leg. He’ll be in a brace for six to nine weeks.

“He’s just the sweetest dog,” said Melissa Hedges, a 21-year-old employee who is fostering Dover until he’s recovered. “When you think of what he’s been through, you expect him to be aggressive, but he just wants someone to love him.”

Dover wagged his tail, periodically approached people to pet him, stretched out to soak up the sun, and leaned into Hedges to soak up some affection.

“He’s a sweetheart,” said Lou Ann Potts, volunteer and board member. “He has eyes that will just melt your heart.”

Although they don’t know for sure, staff at C.A.R.E. do not think Dover came from an abusive home because of his gentle demeanor, said Anisa Dawn, graphic designer for C.A.R.E.

“We have a hard time believing the owners of this dog would do something so heinous,” Dawn said.

Dover is estimated to be 2 to 4 years old.

On Sept. 12, animal control received a call from a passer-by who spotted two dogs at the bottom of an overpass at James River Freeway, west of West Bypass and south of Battlefield Road in Springfield. It’s estimated they had been there for 12 hours.