Threats Become Real--Someone Kills Family’s Dog : Cruelty: His muzzle bound with electrical tape, the golden retriever could not pant to cool off. He dies of heat stroke.

For months the Hutchison family received threatening, obscene phone calls. The man with the slow, gruff voice complained that their dog, Dylan, barked too much and he’d better “shut up . . . or else.”’

But nothing had prepared Jeff and Debbie Hutchison for what awaited them upon their return from church Sunday. Dylan, their 5-year-old golden retriever, was huddled under a tree, his mouth muzzled shut with black electrical tape and near death from heat stroke.

A dog controls its body temperature through its mouth. With his muzzle taped closed, Dylan was unable to pant and his temperature climbed to 108 degrees, a veterinarian said. He died at a nearby animal hospital only minutes after he arrived.

The Fullerton police are looking for witnesses. Cruelty to animals can be a felony offense, Sgt. Ron Gillett said.

“We just don’t understand why this person would do this,” Debbie Hutchison said Monday, her two children, Jamie, 10, and Stephen, 6, at her side. “We would have preferred to give him away rather than have this happen. The thing is, Dylan didn’t even bark that much.”

In April, the Hutchisons reported the anonymous phone calls to police and talked to neighbors to learn if the dog was bothering anyone. Debbie Hutchison said people told them that Dylan, named after Bob Dylan, was not a problem.

The Hutchisons spent a painful Sunday trying to explain to their children what had happened. The kids had gone with their grandparents to a movie after church, so only learned that their dog was dead when they got home.

“Luckily, the kids weren’t here to see him,” Debbie Hutchison said. “They’re not taking it too well. The 6-year-old keeps thinking he will be coming back.”

Jamie Hutchison wrote a letter to the person responsible and attached it to the back gate.

“Dylan was a member of our family,” the letter said in part. “He didn’t deserve this.”

Gillett said the police will need help if they are to find the person responsible.

“We need some leads on a case like this,” Gillett said. “There was no physical evidence per se at the scene, no fingerprints or anything. But maybe a neighbor saw somebody or something.”

Marie Hulett-Curtner, an officer with the Orange County Animal Shelter, said golden retrievers usually are very friendly dogs.

“Since he was a very friendly dog, the person probably easily walked up to him and muzzled him,” she said.

Barking Dogs

The average number of noisy dog complaints received by Orange County Animal Control is fairly stable. The process for dealing with nuisance dogs has three steps and may end with the filing of a criminal misdemeanor complaint against the owner. Conviction could result in one year in prison or a $500 fine and informal probation.

Step: 1.Caller reports a noisy dog, is advised to speak to owner Average annual complaints: 5,500

Step: 2. Animal control officers warn owner to quiet dog Average annual complaints: 480

Step: 3. Misdemeanor charges filed with district attorney’s office Average annual complaints: 60

Source: Orange County Animal Control; Researched by APRIL JACKSON / Los Angeles Times