City Council Offers $5,000 Reward in Death of Dog

Spurred by the efforts of Councilman Nate Holden, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday pledged $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever skinned an Encino pug dog and left him to die.

City officials said it was the first time the council has ever approved paying reward money in the slaying of anything other than a human being.

“A crime is a crime, and this is a crime--it happens to be a dog, a pet, skinned alive” that is the victim, a beaming Holden said after the council vote.

“Many of us feel that a person who would commit this kind of horrific crime would start with dogs and then end up with people. We’re seeing that happen much too much today,” he said.

Holden’s motion to provide the reward, supported by animal-rights activists, was approved 11 to 0 without discussion or comment--even though some city officials believe the dog was killed by a coyote.

Pal, a 35-pound, 5-year-old pug, was found cowering in the bushes of his owner’s backyard on April 8, missing a large saddle-shaped chunk of pelt stretching from his shoulders to his hind quarters. The dog died while being treated at a Northridge veterinarian’s office.

Pal was subsequently autopsied by at least four experts, who disagree whether he died at the hands--or teeth--of a human or a coyote.

The slaying of Pal has unleashed an outpouring of anger by those who believe a human killed him. It has also drawn offers of help for Louise Johnson, the dog’s deaf and nearly blind 84-year-old owner, who was given a young “replacement” pug on Friday by a Hesperia pet adoption agency.

The reward will be added to at least $21,000 already pledged by actor Mickey Rourke and several other celebrities, making the total more than the council usually offers for information about the killings of humans.

Although some council members had initially questioned whether it is appropriate to use taxpayer money to find the killer of a dog, Holden said the reward is entirely appropriate.

“I think this is not out of the ordinary,” Holden said. “We felt it should have been done, and we did it.”

Over the past five years, the City Council has offered rewards of between $5,000 and $200,000 for the arrest and conviction of those who have killed humans, with most of them going for $25,000 apiece. City clerk records show that a total of $400,000 has been paid out of the council’s Special Reward Trust Fund in those cases.

Friday’s reward, however, appears to be the first time the council has offered a reward in the death of an animal, according to Joy Ory, senior management analyst for the city clerk’s office.

The motion approved by the council provides for the reward because of the nature of the “especially disturbing crime” and because “the person or persons responsible for the . . . brutal mutilation and killing” of Pal could become an immediate threat to “the public peace, health and safety of local residents, as well as visitors to the city.”

In approving the reward, the council also directed its Department of Animal Regulation to continue its investigation into Pal’s death in conjunction with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals “and all other interested private parties,” and to report back as soon as possible.

It also asks Los Angeles County’s chief veterinarian to render an opinion on what tore the hide off the dog.

Although there are varying accounts of whether Pal died at the hands of a human or a coyote, the city’s chief veterinarian, Dena Mangiamele, has concluded that the pug’s wounds “were compatible with an attack by another animal.”

Holden vehemently disagreed with that assessment Friday, saying other experts, including a veterinarian and the Los Angeles chapter of the SPCA, have concluded that a coyote could not have killed Pal.

Holden said the incisions were too perfect.

“This cut was evenly shaped . . . around the body of this dog,” Holden said. “A coyote would not be that well trained in performing that kind of a surgical artistry, you might say.”

Madeline Bernstein, executive director of the LASPCA, agreed with Holden, saying she resented efforts by city animal regulation officials to portray Pal’s death as anything but a heinous act committed by a disturbed human--including the city’s search of a vet’s office for the dog’s treatment records.

In an angry April 22 letter to Department of Animal Regulation General Manager Gary Olsen, Bernstein wrote: “Nothing would be more devastating than to jeopardize the chance of a successful felony prosecution and create tons of ‘reasonable doubt fodder’ for a potential defense attorney because of your . . . public whining,” Bernstein wrote.

Olsen could not be reached for comment.