Moonshine, a 3-legged Wolf-dog mix apparently suffered a violent death at the hands of his owner, Shane Michael Thompson. On October 20, 2010 Thompson was charged with animal cruelty after veterinarians determined that the dog had died from blunt trauma and asphyxiation. According to the Palm Beach Post News, Thompson had taken his dog to the Cole Animal Clinic on October 7 to have the dog cremated. He told the clinic that his dog had died, possibly from a seizure.
Examination by a veterinarian and a veterinarian technician revealed trauma to the deceased dog that did not mesh with Thompson's story of a seizure. Later, a man phoned the Tri-County Humane Society to report that his friend had possibly killed his dog.
The Palm Beach County Animal Control was able to retrieve the dog's body and perform a necropsy which confirmed that the dog did die from severe blunt trauma, and asphyxiation. The findings were sufficient for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to press charges against Shane Thompson for the dog's death.
According to the report, Thompson and his roommate had acquired Moonshine this past February. Several witnesses claim to have seen Thompson inflict abuse on the dog on more than one occasion. One witness said that Moonshine was seen being physically abused by his owner back in March, when he was a mere 10-wks of age.
According to Thompson's statement to the police, any prior actions towards the dog that may have been construed as violence, were his attempts at discipline.
It would appear that this dog was disciplined to death. According to the statements, Moonshine died still a puppy - his life cut short by violence delivered by the hand of his owner. It's heart-breaking to know that this young dog fell into the hands of an individual capable of cruelly abusing his own dog.
Concerned individuals can visit this link to find the complete booking information for Shane Michael Thompson. Animal abusers should realize that in this day and age, their violent acts are being watched, monitored, and shared. Hopefully that will aid in the prevention of future crimes.
Written by
Penny Eims
This Sunday October 2, we learned through a spanish page on Facebook of the death in a frightening state of the "famous" lion Casimiro, in the Park of the Guaricha in the state of Monagas (Wac Animal Park Zoo in Guariche, Venezuela) reported on 29 September 2010 in:
