LACEY, Wash. — The Lacey Police Department is looking for a suspect after a family’s four dogs were attacked in their backyard.
Jim and Lynn Roberts are keeping their dogs close as they recover from a seemingly random brutal attack that occurred Monday night.
The Robertses weren’t home when the attack happened but their roommate was and said she saw the suspect who snuck into the backyard after 11 p.m. and viciously hurt three of the four dogs, beating and cutting them with a knife.
“I heard thumping on the side of the house and heard Jack yelp. I happened to look down and the guy is standing behind those tires and had a hold of Jack’s back and was beating him with a pipe of some sort,” said Donna Clark.
Clark said she yelled at the suspect who took off and jumped over the fence into the woods. Clark said she found a knife sheath in the backyard after the attack.
“I want to kill him. I really do. Someone who's going to hurt animals like that is not a good person,” Clark said.
Clark immediately called the Roberts’ who rushed home to find a gruesome scene, their dog Zoey and blood covering the front door.
The owner Jim Roberts described her injuries as, “an 8-inch gash between her shoulder blades. It went from shoulder blade to shoulder blade and deep enough to her spine.”
Zoey is the mother of the other three dogs and wasn’t the only one hurt. One dog had lacerations on his head and appeared he may have been stabbed. Another dog had lacerations in his jawline and was hit so hard that a canine tooth was knocked out.
“I think his sole purpose was to hurt the dogs and I don’t understand what kind of person could do that,” said Lynn Roberts.
One dog was able to run away and hide and was missing for four hours.
Two of the dogs had to be rushed to the emergency vet with surgeries costing thousands of dollars. All four dogs are recovering and the Robertses said they are doing better than expected and are thankful for the live saving care from Olympia Pet Emergencies and Evergreen Animal Hosptial.
Lacey Police said a detective had been assigned to the case and is following up on leads including a suspect description that matches the profile of a man in the neighborhood.
The Robertses hope this person is found and that something like this doesn’t happen to another family.
“Whoever did this needs to get some help. How could somebody do this? Walk into somebody's backyard and do this to the dogs,” said Jim Roberts.
A GoFundMe was created to help with the family's $7,200 vet bill. To donate, click here.
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