Archived Story
Dogs remembered by owners
Published 11:17am Wednesday, August 29, 2012PEDRO — Bubba and Bear only knew each other for about a year, but they were fast friends.
Many evenings Bear, the golden lab-basset hound mix, and Bubba, a black, tan and white Walker coon hound, would chase softballs their owners, Mike and Josie Scythes, would toss to them in their side yard off Texas Hollow.
“They were playful,” Josie said. “Both were great, wonderful dogs and wouldn’t harm anyone unless they were being harmed.”
The Scythes had owned 4-year-old Bear since he was a puppy, but had gotten Bubba from a friend just a year ago when he was 4. But both had quickly bonded and become not just pets, but a beloved part of the Scythes family.
“They were like my kids,” Josie said.
On Saturday the Scythes got up to make a 10 a.m. appointment with their veterinarian to examine a cat the couple had rescued. With just one obligation on the horizon, the day looked as if it would unfold in a typical, uneventful way.
That is until the couple drove back to their house later that morning and a neighbor rushed up to tell them unimaginable news.
Bubba and Bear were dead. Bear lying in a pool of his own blood and Bubba huddled in a lifeless heap inside his doghouse. Both had been stabbed over and over. Both had had their throats slit.
“There were blood trails everywhere,” Josie said. “They were not just stabbed. They were brutally slaughtered.”
Even the doghouse gave little protection for Bubba. Its roof had been ripped off so the attacker could knife the coonhound another time.
“I was devastated,” she said when she saw the carnage in her yard.
Three days later one man is behind bars for the crime and the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office is looking for his accomplice.
Brian L. Sharp, 20, of 339 Township Road 324, Pedro, now faces charges of prohibition concerning companion animals, a first-degree misdemeanor, and criminal trespassing, a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
The maximum punishment for a first-degree misdemeanor is 180 days in the county jail and a fine of $1,000. The maximum punishment for a fourth-degree misdemeanor is 30 days in the county jail and a $250 fine.
“This person needs to get the harshest punishment,” Josie said.
That is one of the reasons Sharp wasn’t charged with cruelty to animals, which is only a second-degree misdemeanor.
“In reading the ORC (Ohio Revised Code) the statute does cover what happened,” Sheriff Jeff Lawless said. “I felt due to the nature of the crime, it being such a violent act toward innocent animals, I needed to charge the person with the maximum the law will allow.”
And the woman who buried her beloved pets on her property so they would always be close to her vows to make sure those guilty receive that punishment
“This is absolutely more than animal cruelty,” Josie said. “This is murder.”
Every dog will have his day ! And these two will diffinitely get theirs.
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And the sad thing about such atrocious acts against animals, it happens everyday.
Animals are raised on farms to be slaughtered for food,which is very acceptable when raised humanely and slaughtered humanely.
But plenty of sub humans somehow enjoy torturing animals with poison, rocks, pellet guns etc. Most of the time they are injured to suffer a miserable death.
The person(subhuman trash )responsible is never caught and the owner usually never knows what happened to their beloved pet.
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What a horrific experience this family has to go through. It is an event that will change their lives, the way they view strangers, their neighbors and the chilling feeling when they have to go to work and leave their home unattended.
I really do not think the prosecutor or the judges really grasp the impact it creates in the lives of victims of crimes. Whether it’s constant harrassment from a rat family neighbor or something as violent as this act to family pets. Victims do not simply move on and forget, it’s always in the back of their minds and that impact alone should result in the greatest, most painful penalty that can be imposed on these criminals!
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AMEN!! There is a special place in hell for the trash that did this. My heart aches for the owners, and when I think of what these poor little dogs went through. I want those two pieces of filth to suffer.
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I hope they pay attention this is a precursor to what will come next. People that can do this type of violence to an animal will not hesitate to kill an adult or child that annoys them also. It’s a proven fact; Bundy, Dahmer and others like them started with animals first.
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I can’t guess why that man would wanna kill those dogs. Apparently they were kept restrained; if they barked enough to be a nuisance, the law would handle that if they were called. If he had something personal against either of the Scythes, he needs to be prevented from doing something worse. I shall be interested in what his accomplice has to say when he’s caught.
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CAN THE HUMANE SOCIETY DO MORE TO PUNISH HIM.
THEY NEED TO BE CALLED IN IF THE COURTS WON’T DO
ANYTHING…. LAWRENCE COUNTY COURT IS A JOKE…
GUILTY GO FREE AND IF YOU CAUGHT THIS GUY IN THE ACT AND YOU TRIED TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY AND IN THIS CASE YOUR BELOVED ANIMALS YOU WOULD BE THE ONE IN TROUBLE.
THIS GUY REALLY NEEDS TO PAY….THIS JUST MAKES ME SICK.
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this guy deserves every day that the law allows, BUT the court system in lawrence county seems too be stuck on ccs confindment, so don’t look for a harsh sentence.
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