Rambo, a dog that was thrown from a moving vehicle in Colorado (Commerce City Police Department).
Cops in Colorado are on the hunt for a dognapper who “had the audacity” to throw someone’s four-legged best friend out of a moving vehicle — breaking the spine of the “poor animal” and forcing vets to put him down — after swiping him from his owner’s backyard, according to police.
“This sweet boy had to be euthanized,” the Commerce City Police Department reported in a Nov. 28 press release, which identified the dog as “Rambo” and was posted across social media. His owner told investigators and Denver Fox affiliate KDVR that Rambo was taken from his backyard last month while he wasn’t home and he didn’t find out about his tragic fate until after seeing the police department’s press release on Instagram.
“This is sickening and heart-wrenching and we desperately need your help,” CCPD said in the post, which featured photos of Rambo and his broken spine. “On November 23rd at around 7:45 p.m. someone had the audacity to throw this poor animal out the passenger side window of a moving car at the intersection of East 64th Avenue and Monaco Street.”
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CCPD said a good Samaritan witnessed “the horrific ordeal” and called it in. Cops who arrived on scene transported Rambo to an emergency veterinarian “in both tremendous pain and unable to move” as a result of his injuries, leading them to euthanize him.
“We are continuing to investigate what happened next and who is responsible for the terrible act,” CCPD said.
One of the hurdles that investigators have been facing, according to police officials, is that their main witness was too traumatized and worried about the dog’s safety to remember what the suspect’s car looked like after seeing Rambo get flung from it.
“Unfortunately the witness was so jarred and went immediately to help the dog (and it was dark) that he didn’t get a description or plate,” CCPD said in a Facebook response to a user who asked for a description of the vehicle and whether there was surveillance video from a nearby business or residence. “It was caught on camera at a business but just in the corner, and it’s impossible to tell which,” CCPD said.
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Police plan to charge the dognapper with felony aggravated animal cruelty if caught, according to officials. Commerce City Public Information Officer Joanna Small told Law&Crime on Monday that while animal abuse cases come up from time to time in the Denver metro area, it’s rare that they rise to the level of a felony.
“The main officer who responded emailed me her report because she was so upset,” Small said. “Seeing that dog’s face really affected her. She wanted to save the dog. It was terrified. It went to bite them when they tried to help. That’s why it was wearing a muzzle.”
According to Small, the emergency vets reported that Rambo “didn’t have any sensation in its body” when he came in. “Literally unable to move,” she said. “Basically a quadriplegic.”
Cops were still investigating on Monday and looking for leads on the vehicle.
