I actually have something to say. This is in regard to Puppy Doe.
First:
Anyone with information about Puppy Doe should contact:
The Animal Rescue League of Boston, Law Enforcement Services
(617) 226-5610
cruelty@arlboston.org
Quincy Police Department
Det. Thomas Pepdjonovich
(617) 745-5774
Now, I’ve been following Justice for Puppy Doe on Facebook. I find many of the comments to be disgustingly judgmental. They also seem a bit uninformed, to me, so I wrote this.
” I think a lot have people have missed some of the facts so I am posting what I have found here, and on the news.
Kiya was found alive. Her injuries were so severe that it was unlikely she would ever recover. She was unable to walk. Within hours of her discovery she was euthanized, after receiving a belly full of food and lots of love.
Kiya is known as Puppy Doe, but the original owner has stepped forward with pictures, and Kiya’s name. Kiya’s markings are distinctive enough to easily identify Kiya as the Puppy Doe we know from that horrible picture.
Kiya’s original owner could not keep the dog because of her landlord’s rules. She responsibly gave Kiya up to people she knew and trusted. Those people are the ones that put Kiya on Craig’s List.
Most CL pet sales go smoothly. Until now, the worst case scenario was whether the dog would end up as bait for fighting dogs. Even if the people vetted the new owner for dog fighting, there is no way they could have seen this coming. In hindsight, we can all be angry we didn’t see it coming, but we shouldn’t be angry at the people who gave Kiya up. If we have to blame anyone who is not physically responsible for injuring Kiya, it should be the landlord with the breed/size limit. That rule is what started this. In my opinion, saying someone should be homeless and destitute over finding what they thought was a good home, and not blame the rule that forced her to choose is ludicrous.
The authorities are very interested in catching the twisted person who tortured and maimed Kiya. They recognize that this is the behavior of a serial killer in training. I am sure that is where the focus of their attention will be. I doubt they will let this case go. Once the person is found, I am sure that with all the attention this case has been given, that the state will prosecute within the fullest extent of the law.”
I am deeply disturbed but the witch hunt that is going on. Horrible, nasty things are being said about the original owner. As someone who has had to give up pets, I know what a hard decision it is to make. In my case I simply could not afford to move with my dog. Being homeless does not help the dog. It only helps your guilt. I don’t see that as a reasonable option.
I’ll probably have more to say but it will have to wait. I have to calm down.
The Snarky Sparrow 
September 21, 2013 at 1:48 pm
I am relieved to see someone with a voice off reason address these issues. I have noticed the tone on some of these FB pages has turned dark and ugly with talk of hatred, killing, and what they would do to the perpetrator(s) of this heinous crime. This disturbs me. The kind of proposed brutality appearing on these pages is of the same variety the killers of Kiya used on her. If these people making these suggestions and expressing such hatred were gathered together we would call it a lynch mob. It hurt my heart when I heard of what happened to Kiya and then to see the dreadful photos. It hurts still, it is haunting. I forced myself to look at them. It was devastating. We need to concentrate on finding the murder(ers) of this defenseless critter – that is constructive and something we all want to see happen.
September 22, 2013 at 9:34 pm
The information and truth is actually coming out, reread your facts. The “former owner” only gave this poor dog away in spit, the landlord had nothing to do with her giving it up, the facts that were reported were ill and a lie. Much more information is coming into the light since this was posted.
September 25, 2013 at 11:10 am
Since reading your reply yesterday, I have been searching for news items revealing the lies you mentioned. I have found none. Do you have the links, so that I may post an update?
September 23, 2013 at 11:35 am
I agree with you hatred toward the previous owner is not the solution, I am pretty sure the previous owner is as heart broken as we are or more Im pretty sure she is full with guilt and regrets, another feeling that is useless right now. I just want to let you or whoever read this, that there are rescues that will take your dog/ cat and re-homed, rescues that will do home visit to make sure the adopter is good enough for the pet. Giving a pet away its very sad, I do understand, but we should be more cautious how we choose the person to take over this responsibility of having a pet. No blaming anyone here, just would like to find the sadistic evil person who did this and bring it to justice. I really hope that animal cruelty laws would be stronger than they are.
September 24, 2013 at 7:19 am
the facts are in the news papers & also the face book page that has been set up. & her owner DID go through craigslist. Blaming craigslist is wrong but, I also understand why they want to take down the “free to good home” section. Most animal abusers are either stealing, or getting these animals for free & then are used as bait dogs or being abused. here is the link you asked for https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForPuppyDoe its the second section on the left side of the page. the police also say that yes, puppy doe previous owner came forward & has pictures. However the news stated yesterday that they would not confirm until they had DNA. your correct there are a lot of nasty comments being made but, you need to understand that we are people trying to help animals & sometimes our anger gets the better of us. This case is by far the worst I have ever heard of. She was tortured, cut, beaten, starved, burned. she had so many broken bones they couldn’t count them. she had a skull fracture & her limbs were pulled apart WHILE SHE WAS ALIVE , can you imagine how she felt? that it had to take more than one person to restrain her? this went on for weeks or perhaps months. I cannot imagine how she felt I have had nightmares about this.Then she was left on the side of the road to die. This has been haunting me day & night. I have never been so upset before. I fear what they will uncover when the person(s) are caught. there could be many other animals or even humans being tortured this very minute.
October 29, 2013 at 1:42 pm
This has haunted me for 2 months as well. I cry every time I think of it. How can anyone be so cruel, mentally ill or not. I am so grateful the monster has been found and many charges are piling up against him. If he makes it out of prison alive (we all know inmates don’t like those who abuse children and animals), I believe he will then be deported back to Poland. Let them deal with him. God bless her soul, I know she’s running and having a great time now, and can see how much pain and sorrow we are feeling for her. It’s unfortunate that something this disturbing had to happen to grab a hold of the public and rattle them to get the message through that these beasts need to be addressed just as they would be if they did this to a person. They are only getting primed for people.
September 24, 2013 at 9:17 pm
Although I understand life can be unpredictable and we may face certain situations where we face hard decisions, I have to disagree with your post. The original owner admitted hiding his dog from the his landlord. He KNEW that he was not allowed to have that type of breed/size of dog. Becoming a pet owner is a huge responsibility and people need to understand and research more before making that commitment. People need to make sure that they are allowed to have that type of animal in their home just as much as the other responsibilities such as if they can even financially afford a pet or if they have enough time to give to a pet. That is why we have so many strays and so many abused animals, because people do not take enough time to research before jumping into such a big responsibility. The original owner should have never adopted a dog that was not allowed by his landlord. And he DID have a choice, he could have moved if/when his landlord threatened him. So, yes I do think he is partially to blame, even if he was not the actual one to do the abusing. I have had pets all my life, and I think of my pets as my kids. I would rather move than give up my pet/kid. I can’t say for sure, since I have never been in this situation, but if I were to loose my home and become homeless, I still think I would take my pet along with me as I know I would make sure he was fed/taken care of before I was. Because I know that statistics of putting a pet in a shelter. I know there is a good chance he would be put to death because most people do not want to adopt older cats and dogs. A friend of mine works for a county pet shelter and even she told me that the dogs that belong to the homeless are sometimes the best taken care of pets, because they are their only companion. They make sure that their companion is fed and happy before themselves (although that is a completely different topic so I digress). I don’t wish the original owner any ill will, but I do think he is partly to blame for what happened to this poor dog. My heart breaks when I think of what was done to Kiya and I check for updates a few times a day.
September 25, 2013 at 11:19 am
I’m sorry if this is a repost of my comment. I can’t seem to find my comment to edit it, so I think I accidentally deleted it.
Anyway…
She. Laura, the original owner, is a she.
Do you have links to articles that state Laura hid Kiya from her landlord? I haven’t read any that state such. I have read, however, that she tried for months to move somewhere more appropriate, but no one would take someone with a pitt bull and two other dogs. Rehoming Kiya was her only reasonable option.
September 25, 2013 at 12:27 pm
Sorry, you are correct, ‘she’. The very first report I read said the owner and his girlfriend, laura had found the Grafton woman through craiglists so I’ve got in the habit of calling the owners (both laura and her boyfriend) he instead of they.
She may or may have not tried to find a new home, I have not yet read about that, but if a person is renting a home (I was read to beleive its an apartment, but may be wrong), wouldn’t you know the terms of your rental agreement BEFORE committing to adopting a dog of that size/breed? I asked my landlord about getting my cat before I adopted him when I live in an apartment. I read my CCR’s at least twice before adopting a dog once I purchased my home. She claims that the dog did not show physical characteristics of a pitbull til later. I highly doubt that as pit bulls and pit bulls mixed breeds usually have that recognizable squarish heads, even as a puppy. As I said before, I don’t wish her any ill will and I don’t agree agree with people threatening the original owners, I’m just trying to make a point that potential pet owners need to do more research prior to making the commitment of adopting a pet. Anything that happens to your pet once you adopt it IS your responsibility.
September 25, 2013 at 12:50 pm
Oops, I clicked ‘send’ before I was done with my comment.
As I was saying, I am tired of people saying ‘they had no choice but to….’ That is just a lazy person’s excuse. There are always options! As a previous commenter posted, there are rescue groups that will interview and visit the new owners prior to adopting out the dog.
However I do agree with you that breed discrimnation is partly to blame as well. I owned a pittbull/am staff mix and he was the sweetest thing ever!
September 28, 2013 at 3:40 am
Found this on a site examiner.com
” I agree CPR. And you don’t need to be sorry for anything; I can’t get her out of my mind, either. It’s just so horrific what she endured, there are no words for it. I just read some pretty enlightening info on another page regarding Kiya an her original owner, Laura. Here it is: Laura was my sons girlfriend at the time she re-homed Kiya. they were together for years. My son NEVER wanted dogs but Laura bought a Chihuahua then a min pin. she would have got more but they were living with me!! They moved out on their own and Laura decided to get a pit (she always wanted one ) but living with me and MY pit( that was originally hers….whole other story) That was not an option. My son grew to LOVE Kiya more then anything and spent MANY hours with her at the park after work. Laura hated the fact that he did that.. The landlord then told them BOTH to re-home ONE of their dogs because 3 was
too many in the small space. My son was planning on getting his own place with just Kiya but couldn’t find one and realized that it would be hard to ever find one so he decided to give Kiya to a friend. That friend felt bad for Kiya because she would sit at the door and cry. and she wouldn’t eat (separation anxiety??) so My son took her back. We had talked about letting Kiya stay with me for how ever long it took for him to find a place. BUT Laura didn’t want that because she didn’t want my son to have her..He feared that Laura would place Kiya on craigslist so I watched it for him and YES I found her ad and flagged it before anyone
could reply.. My son was days away from moving in with me and taking Kiya with him. She placed Kiya on craigslist AGAIN and gave her o the first person who replied while my son was at work. who again days later emailed laura and Laura said for her to find Kiya a good home. so you see. The story she tells in papers is NOT the truth..If she really wanted what was best for Kiya she would be here with us(yes my son left her the day Kiya went) IT is SICK that she is enjoying all the attention over such tragedy. “
September 28, 2013 at 7:49 am
I read that too, but it is just online trolling, I think. If it were true it would have made its way to the papers by now. My guess is that it did not make it through fact checking.
If the boyfriend loved Kiya so much, why didn’t he step forward to help the police, like Laura did? I’m sure the papers would love something new to write about in this case, like an angry ex boyfriend with a different story.
September 29, 2013 at 1:11 am
My feeling about this is that, first of all, it’s hearsay, and does not square with the degree to which Laura Hankins has been able to keep her story straight through repeated tellings. Secondly, I’m not impressed with its being brought forward as a reason to demonize Laura Hankins because no such details were required for anybody to think the worst of her. Simply rehoming was enough. Yes, it is true, CraigsList is not the ideal place to go. It’s probably more useful to direct angry energy toward increasing safeguards for pet adoptions than anywhere else, right now. But rehoming could be in the future of any pet owner. Most Americans have limited if any job and home security and to say “I’d do anything, I’d be homeless,” etc. is not facing the facts. The fact that Laura Hankins has cooperated with the police and even tried to call the woman to whom she rehomed Kiya speaks for her. We do not know all the ins and outs of anybody’s private life. If the woman who adopted Kiya from Laura Hankins is found and speaks to a court, no doubt all these details will be dragged out and their relevancy, if any, will become clear. But for that very reason, it strikes me as foolish to focus so much on the original owner’s motives at all, when there are some much darker motives later in the story and when the Boston area is likely harboring a serial killer. Rehoming is a sad fact of life and needs to be done in safety. We can require that without getting unproductively personal.
October 1, 2013 at 12:31 pm
I agree that a witch hunt is not the way to go. Laura didn’t abuse this dog, nor did she seek out people who would. It is a very unfortunate set of circumstances that led to the perfect storm (**^% storm) of Kiya being abused. Everyone who had her failed her in some way or the other. Starting with the breeder who did not do a home check to see if the puppy was going to an appropriate home. None of this speculation, rumor mongering, etc is going to help find the person who did these unspeakable things to Kiya. Laura H. did not do them so we can pray she gives every scrap of info to the police and leave her alone in her grief. I would be beside myself as I am sure she is. What we need first is to find the person who did this. Second we need to work together to change the laws. If you aren’t interested in either of these things, just go away because it is not helping the people who are working very hard to accomplish these two goals. And everyone, check your facts and don’t repeat gossip. That includes the original article because that also has incorrect facts.
October 28, 2013 at 10:08 pm
You all know now that today they arrested a man in CT and charged him with 11 counts of animal abuse and obstruction. For now that plus a few details is all we know. I am immensely relieved this fiend has been caught. Were others involved? Who knows? It will take time for all the facts to come out. For instance, the police said they got a tip. But give no details.
It’s hard to wait until tomorrow when the murderer will be arraigned and the police are planning another press conference. I am filled with gratitude that the police stuck to their investigation until this depraved monster was found. Thank you so much QPD. She mattered.
A lot of people will say it was just a dog, what’s the big deal? The big deal was the depth of depravity he displayed and the severity of the injuries she sustained. The big deal was that he could be doing it to other dogs, animals, humans. And she wasn’t just a dog, she was a living being who should have been cared for and loved, just as any animal should be.
Well, this has been cathartic! I didn’t intend to blather on and on. It does help.
October 28, 2013 at 10:12 pm
I was much relieved as well. Once we have more info than a name and a mug shot, I’ll ponder and post.
I’m glad you were able to get some of that off your chest.
November 3, 2013 at 5:22 am
Wrong…Most free re-homing does not always go well on Craigslist..HAVE U HEARD OF THE CRAIGSLIST SERIAL CAT KILLER, ALEX PHELPS??
November 3, 2013 at 10:01 am
I said most, not always.
February 24, 2014 at 4:53 pm
A simple check on Kiya would have most likely saved her life.