After he was stabbed by an 11-year-old Gypsum boy acting in a fit, Spike the dog yelped, limped into the kitchen of the family house and died in a pool of his own blood, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
The July 26 death of the black-and-white Labrador mix led authorities to seek mental-health assistance for the boy, who previously had been physically abused, his mother told Eagle County investigators.
“I’m a K-9 officer up here in the county … and you see this carcass and you know that back in your patrol car you’ve got a 90-pound male German shepherd that’s your buddy, and it hits home,” said Deputy Tim Comroe on Friday.
The boy, whose name was not released because of his age, had just gotten into a squabble with his 7-year-old brother. He threw the family cat and a bowl of cereal at his younger sibling before retiring to his bedroom with Spike.
While he was playing with the dog’s paws, the boy said, it bit him on the top of his head, infuriating him and prompting him to go to the kitchen to retrieve the 8-inch filet knife.
He returned and stabbed Spike once on the left side as the dog lay on his bed.
“When he stabbed the dog, he let the dog out of the bedroom, and the dog ran out of the bedroom into the kitchen, where the dog fell onto the kitchen floor and died,” Comroe wrote in his report.
Officers found a trail of blood leading from the bedroom and recovered the knife in the sink, where it apparently had been washed clean.
The officer could not find any bite marks on the boy, who showed no remorse and said only that he had been bored.
When his mother was asked if the boy had exhibited that kind of anger previously, she told investigators that he had been abused by her former boyfriend when the family lived in Arizona.
After an initial psychological evaluation at the Sheriff’s Office, the boy was taken to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo for further treatment.
Comroe said the case has netted significant attention from dog owners and animal lovers.
“There are some issues with the family that are being addressed as we speak,” he said. “There needs to be some help for the entire family. We’re providing that as best as we can.”
He said he’d recommended charges be filed against the boy. He declined to elaborate, saying the charging decision rests with the district attorney.
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
