Hysteria Turns Into Horror: A Man Blows Up His Dog, Claiming the Devil Was in Her

He strapped explosives to her neck in the middle of the night, committing a brutal and evil act.

Just before 4 a.m., multiple people called 911 reporting that they heard an explosion in a Stevenson, Washington, neighborhood. It was Christopher W. Dillingham. He had just blown up his yellow Lab, Cabela, by attaching an explosive to her neck. 

The blast woke up Sheriff Dave Brown, who lives nearby.

"Sounded like a high-powered rifle going off just outside my window," he told KATU.com, which is continuing to report the story. 

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the bomb squad, and deputies all responded to  Dillingham's home, where they found remains of the dog, who was decapitated, on the property. When they arrived, Dillingham was throwing furniture out of his house. He now sits in jail on $500,000 bail, charged with reckless endangerment and possession of an explosive device.

He hasn't yet been formally charged with animal cruelty, a fact that has been reported widely in the news. Yet prosecutors say they have delayed simply to find out how to make it stick, because the dog did not experience pain and suffering, which is required under the charge. However, "possession of an explosive device" carries a much stiffer sentence -- as long as 20 years as compared with 12 months for animal cruelty. 

"There was never a point where we said we're not going to charge animal cruelty," prosecuting attorney Adam Kick told KATU.com in a later story. "We chose the (charges) that were most clearly geared toward protecting the public and keeping Mr. Dillingham in custody. We were always still reviewing the statute on animal cruelty."

As for why Dillingham, who runs a fireworks stand, blew up his dog, he told deputies -- calmly -- that his ex-girlfriend had “put the devil in it."

He told deputies how he built the device, attached it to the dog's neck while giving her treats, and cowered behind a wall as he set off the bomb. 

Shockingly, Dillingham had owned Cabela for only six months. The Lab was given to the family by Ty Freemantle, who lived in the area but had to relocate for a new job. His best friend said he knew someone who would make a good owner: Chris Dillingham's daughter. Freemantle checked her out. He met her and visited her home. He trusted his friend. 

He feels horrible that the beloved dog he hunted and fished with, who he had found on Craigslist when she was just six weeks old, came to such a devastating end. 

"I felt a little bit of guilt too," a shaken Freemantle told KATU. "It's the worst part."

Dillingham will probably face more charges -- including animal cruelty -- when he is arraigned on Aug. 15.

Via KATU.com; images via KATU.com broadcast 

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"Lost Puppy" Found on Camping Trip Turns Out to Be a Wolf Cub

Campers in Ketchum, Idaho, found a lonely, hungry, tiny, cute baby furry creature by the side of the road and decided to help him out by bringing him to a vet. However, upon closer inspection, the vet suspected that the little four-legged guy the rescuers thought was just a puppy might actually be a wolf cub.

The little lost wolf cub hadn't eaten in days when found.

Folks, do not try this at home! Vets conducted DNA tests to find out whether the pup is pure wolf or perhaps a wolf-hybrid. Frightened of people and in poor health, the cub was handed over to a local zoo for temporary care and housing. Workers from Fish and Game are on the hunt for the cub's family in an effort to reunite him with his pack. A wolf pack had been observed near where the cub was found, and it's suspected that while in the process of moving a litter, the wolves were startled by humans and became separated.

Defenders of Wildlife have stepped in to assist Idaho Fish and Game in locating the cub's family. Their wolf expert, Suzanne Stone, explained the urgency in reuniting the pack, since wolf cubs have only a slim chance of survival without their mamas. 

Suzanne Stone points out the wolf tracks they hope will lead the cub back home.

For now the cub is being kept away from people so he'll have a better chance of being reassimilated into the wild, which we hope will happen soon. 

Defenders or Wildlife found tracks that "indicate that the mother wolf was using the road to move her litter through Sawtooth National Forest where they were disturbed by human activity and the one pup got separated from his family."

They plan on following the tracks back to what they hope will be a den site so they can get the little cub back home.

Our paws are crossed for a happy ending to this story!

Via Dog Heirs

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Caught on Camera! Jake’s New Year’s Resolution Too Much; Turns Him into a Blatant Thief

Sure, Jake may have curbed his begging a little, per his New Year’s resolution he reported on a few days ago. But he is now supplementing his caloric intake with a new technique: raiding the compost bucket. Last night I heard him breathing in an odd, hollow-sounding way as he tiptoed past me in the living room as I was reading from my new Kindle. He sounded like a short Darth Vader.

I looked over as he walked by and saw his mouth open to the point that it looked like a shark’s unhinged jaw. In his mouth he held what he surely considered the most fantastic treat ever: the gingerbread house my daughter and her friend Elton put together three weeks ago. It was from a Trader Joe’s kit, and it had been cute, but it didn’t taste very good so we used it purely as decoration, picking off little candy bits as the days of Christmas came and went. Last night, while starting  to dismantle our Christmas decorations, we decided it was time to put the gingerbread house in the compost bucket in our kitchen. Within 10 minutes it was in the stealthy jaws of our ceaselessly food-obsessed yellow Lab.

I had my camera close by and wanted to catch him red-jawed, as it were, but Jake wanted to keep moving toward the backyard with his quarry. So I called for Laura, who ran out of her room and grabbed Jake for his mug shot.

The compost bucket will be on the counter from now on.

I hope the New Year’s resolutions are going better in your household.

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Missing Dog Turns Up 715 Miles Away

Bryan Rapozo drove 715 miles, from Sacramento, Calif. to Tacoma, Wash., to be reuinted with Bear

It’s a lesson in the beauty of microchipping your dog.

When Bear, a Patterdale terrier, disappeared from Bryan Rapozo’s workplace, he thought his “child” was gone for good. “He doesn’t stray. He doesn’t go anywhere without me…He’s like my son,” the 32-year-old father of two daughters told the News Tribune. “I just want my boy back.”

When bear turned up in a shelter 715 miles away, Rapozo was ecstatic. He made the 13-hour drive from the Sacramento, Calif., area to the Tacoma, Wash., area, and got his little buddy back. Now that they’re together again, he said Bear will not be allowed to watch squirrels in back of his construction workplace (one of his favorite pastimes) unless he’s right there with him. He said he’s putting Bear on “lockdown.” “He’s not going to leave my side,” Rapozo said.

If you know any people who haven’t microchipped their dog, you might want to send them this article. ID tags are removable. Microchips aren’t. When Bear disappeared, he was wearing a brand-new collar and ID tag. It wasn’t on him when he arrived at the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County. Without the microchip, Bear would surely have been lost forever.

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