Elaborate Rites Planned for Slain Dog

An Arleta family whose 2-year-old mixed German shepherd, Skippy, was reportedly shot to death by a postman made preparations Thursday for an elaborate funeral that will include a silk-lined casket, graveside ceremony and headstone at a pet cemetery in Calabasas. The funeral is slated for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

As a U.S. Postal Service official indicated Thursday that the agency would pick up tabs for the dog’s funeral, a check of San Fernando Municipal Court records indicated that mail carrier Floyd Bertran Sterling, 34, who was accused by the Brody family of shooting the dog, was already on probation for a 1988 misdemeanor conviction for carrying a loaded .44 magnum revolver in his car.

During the 1988 incident, an officer stopped Sterling for speeding and turning left in front of oncoming traffic, according to a police report on file. Noticing targets in the back of the car, the officer asked Sterling if he was carrying a gun.

Sterling, who was on his way home from a firing range, showed the officer his loaded revolver in its case and was arrested. He pleaded no contest to the charges in December, 1988, and was sentenced to two years’ probation and fined $150.

On Tuesday, according to Skippy’s owner, Tammie Brody, 27, Sterling “freaked out” and shot the dog, who she said was not menacing him, just as Brody emerged from her house to give the mail carrier a Christmas present, a bottle of vodka wrapped with a green ribbon bow.

Sterling, who told police Skippy had bitten him earlier, was arrested after the shooting but released. LAPD Detective Manford Brown said police will ask the district attorney’s office today to charge Sterling with cruelty to an animal.

Sterling also faces possible action by the Post Office for violating regulations that prohibit workers from carrying firearms on the job. The Postal Service placed Sterling on paid leave while it investigates.

“Everyone’s very sorry about it,” said John Conte, communications manager for the U.S. Postal Service division in Van Nuys, as he announced that the federal agency will pay for Skippy’s funeral.

“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Conte said. “We’re willing to do what we can to alleviate the situation.”

Skippy will be laid to rest in a deluxe, 40-inch lined casket banked by flowers at Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park, said Laura Ortega, a spokeswoman for the pet cemetery. He has been given a burial plot next to Whiskey, a German shepherd which belonged to Brody’s brother. Ortega said the bill for funeral services had reached $531.50 and was still climbing.

Brody said she wants a fancy ceremony to help her 10-year-old son Brian get over the trauma of witnessing the killing of his pet. Brody said her son would probably say a few words of farewell before the casket is lowered into the ground.

The dog “certainly didn’t die in a nice way,” Brody said. “If he could be buried in a nice way,” perhaps her son “could just go on and not dwell on it,” Brody said.

Meanwhile, neighbors living on Sterling’s route in Arleta rallied around the postman whom they described as “friendly.”

“I really think the dog had it coming,” said John Tween, 42. “That dog was always out in the street chasing cars.”

Beth Adams, 30, another neighbor, said: “He’s very warm. He’s a nice guy, and I personally think this dog must have done something to him.” Adams said she contacted the Post Office to offer money to go toward a legal fund and to act as a character witness in Sterling’s defense.