Dog Dies After Being Tortured

A pug dog that served as a companion to an elderly deaf woman died Tuesday after being skinned alive by unknown tormentors, authorities said.

The 35-pound male, whose name was Pal, walked out at about 7:30 p.m. Monday through the doggy door of his master’s residence near Petit Avenue and Morrison Street, said Dr. Melvyn Richkind, the Northridge veterinarian who treated the dog.

The elderly woman who owned the purebred pug--a stubby breed known for its wrinkled face--came out to look for him about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday and found him bleeding under a bush, Richkind said. She called her daughter, who took the dog to the veterinarian’s office in the afternoon.

Richkind said that during the night, someone skinned the dog’s coat from the shoulders to the tail using a sharp object. When the animal arrived at his office, it was suffering from severe dehydration and infection, Richkind said.

“It appeared as though the animal was in deep shock,” he said.

Although the dog initially responded to shock treatment, it died at about 4:30 p.m.

Richkind said the only comparable case of animal cruelty he could recall occurred in the late 1970s, when he treated a cat that also had been skinned alive.

State investigators were relying on the public for leads about possible suspects, Richkind said.

“We’re hoping someone was seen in the neighborhood.”