http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/Phila_man_arrested_for_setting_family_puppy_on_fire.html

Phila. man charged with setting family puppy on fire

By Sam Wood
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A Northeast Philadelphia man who allegedly poured rubbing alcohol over a puppy and lit it on fire was arrested today by Pennsylvania SPCA officers and Philadelphia police.

John William Fleet III, 33, was taken into custody at his home on the 1100 block of Sanger Street in the city’s Oxford Circle section and charged with animal cruelty, police said. Additional charges are pending.

The 5-month-old pit bull mix, which the family had for about 60 days, was burned “very badly,” said George Bengal, the SPCA’s director of law enforcement.

Its neck and ears were charred, its whiskers were burned off, and one of its corneas seared, Bengal said

“It’s going to be disfigured and maybe also blind in one eye,” Bengal said. In addition to the burns caused by the flaming alcohol, Bengal said the animal also had been burned repeatedly with a lit cigarette.

The puppy, which rescuers have named Rudy, was being treated tonight at the SPCA facility on East Erie Avenue.

Fleet told investigators the dog was burned accidentally. But his children told a different tale – they said it was deliberate, Bengal said.

“He actually had them hold the dog while he did it,” Bengal said.

The traumatized children, ages 6 and 12, told a counselor at Harding Middle School this morning that their father became enraged at the puppy Thursday night after it nipped at them, Bengal said.

The counselor called police who then notified the SPCA.

When officers arrived at the house, Fleet would not come to the door.

“We knocked and banged,” Bengal said. “We had to break in through a second-story window to gain entrance.

Bengal found the dog stowed in the basement.

“It was constantly shaking its head because it was in pain,” he said. “The burns were hard to see because the dog is dark brown.”

Investigators collected additional evidence and may pursue arson charges, Bengal said.

“When he set the dog on fire, the couch caught fire also,” Bengal said. “It also burned up part up a rug. We had to remove all that.”

The children last night were staying with their mother at another location.

Fleet, who was charged last year with aggravated assault and firearms counts, is scheduled to go to trial February 8 on those charges, according to court records.