WARNING: The following contains descriptions of animal torture that some readers may find uncomfortably graphic.

IDA is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for killing two rescued dogs at a New Philadelphia, Ohio shelter. Added to the existing $500 bounty for the killer?s capture, this brings the total reward up to $3,000. Though the killings occurred about two months ago, whoever is responsible remains at large, and must be found before they kill again. 

The perpetrator(s) used a bolt cutter to disable the locks on the kennel doors, and clearly tortured both of the dogs before killing them. Sunny, a collie mix who was slated to be adopted into a new home in North Carolina the week after the incident, was beaten with a baseball bat, tortured, and finally gutted with a knife blade. Two days later, Ruphert, a Doberman mix, was discovered mutilated, with a crushed skull and sharpened sticks shoved under the skin of his legs.

Shelter operator Carol Powell was quick to point out that there is a direct connection between cruelty to animals and violence toward human beings. "This is a future Jeffrey Dahmer," she told reporters. "He started out mutilating animals and worked his way up to human beings. Whoever did this to the dogs is not mentally right, and they need to be found and prosecuted."

Ohio state law considers the killing of a dog merely a misdemeanor, which means that anyone charged for the slayings would probably just have to pay a fine and not even have to spend any time in jail. While it is an injustice that animals? lives are taken so lightly, the killer(s) of Sunny and Ruphert must be identified to prevent further suffering and death.

- Donate money to increase the reward being offered for information leading to the arrest of whoever committed these vile acts of murder. To contribute, call (415) 388-9641, or donate online using our secure server (please write "dog killer reward" in the "in honor of" field of the online donation form).

- If you have information that could help solve this case, please contact the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Department at (330) 339-2000

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