SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—Police in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale say a man is accused of killing his 4-year-old golden retriever service dog at his home and dumping the dog’s body in a garbage can where it was found by family members.
Police say in a statement that 29-year-old Jacob Bushkin was arrested Thursday night, Feb. 28, on suspicion of killing a service animal and animal cruelty.
Family members found the 4-year-old Golden Retriever and took the dog from Scottsdale to a veterinarian in Phoenix. The vet alerted the police on Feb. 25.
The Arizona Humane Society performed a necropsy on the dog and found that it was alive during the vicious attack.
The statement says Bushkin declined to speak with investigators and that detectives arrested him at the office of his lawyer, Ryan Tait.
Tait declined to comment on the allegations.
Animal Cruelty
Animal cruelty effects reach beyond the animal victims, noted researchers for the Animal Welfare Institute in a 2012 report (pdf).“Accumulating empirical evidence is demonstrating a strong association between animal cruelty and other crimes, including interpersonal violence, illegal possession of drugs and guns, and property destruction,” researchers stated.
“Moreover, participation in animal cruelty in childhood is a significant marker for the development of aggressive and anti-social behavior, as well as a predictor of individuals who might engage in domestic violence.”
Nearly every state has passed laws making animal cruelty a felony in some or all cases, the researchers said, “a dramatic change” in how the crimes are viewed and prosecuted.
According to the Humane Society of the United States, hoarding behavior can hurt animals, with women as the main culprits; animal abusers, meanwhile, are most often men.
“Hoarding behavior often victimizes animals. Sufferers of a hoarding disorder may impose severe neglect on animals by housing far more than they are able to adequately take care of. Serious animal neglect (such as hoarding) is often an indicator of people in need of social or mental health services,” the group stated.
“Surveys suggest that those who intentionally abuse animals are predominantly men under 30, while those involved in animal hoarding are more likely to be women over 60.”
