Posted on 08/26/2004 3:29:53 PM PDT by ambrose
Dog Kidnapped, Tortured by Neighbor Say Cops
By Jen Maxfield
(Red Bank-WABC, August 26, 2004) — A neighbor fed up with a barking dog lands in jail for a brutal beating. New Jersey police say a Lakewood man kidnaped the Brittany spaniel and beat him with a shovel.
Bastian is here licking his wounds at the Red Bank Veterinary Hospital, where he's been since four days chained to a tree in the woods, with no food, and no water.
From a distance, Bastian looks like a healthy Brittany spaniel, but up close the signs of abuse are clear. His head and ears are red and raw, and he is missing large patches of fur.
Chief Buddy Amato, Monmouth County SPCA: "If you were going to rate this from a one to ten, this is like an 11."
Animal cruelty investigators say Bastian was stolen out of his owner's back yard in Lakewood by the next door neighbor, 43-year-old Jeffrey Babilya.
Ryan Hurley, Howell Township Police: "The suspect stated that the dog was constantly barking, and that it agitated him. So he had to put a stop to it."
Bastian's owners knew their beloved pet had been stolen. They made posters, and even approached Babilya to try to convince him to bring Bastian home.
Alyse Dulany, Dog Owner: "We actually offered him a thousand dollars if he could tell us where he was the next day. And he said, 'No, I love dogs, I would never do that.'"
Police say Babilya flat-out lied. They say last Friday Babilya drove Bastian to a wooded area in Howell Township, looped his leash around a tree, muzzled him with duct tape, and left him to die.
But then, four days later, police say Babilya returned to find Bastian was still alive, and that's when he got out his shovel.
William Young, Witness: "We could hear that somebody was hitting the dog, 'whomp, whomp, whomp.' The dog was yelping every time. And then it got progressively faster, and eventually the dog stopped whimpering."
Young called police, and Babilya was arrested hours later. Police charged him with numerous counts of theft and animal cruelty after, they say, he made a full confession.
Bastian's owners are just happy that he's alive, but they worry their dog will never be as trusting again. Doctors say they believe he will make a full recovery.
Neighbors say that Babilya is out on bail, but that he has not returned to his house. He was not available today for comment.
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Leave the bastard to me... give a baseball bat, duct tape and five minutes in a closed room...
Let me have him and a shovel for just ten minutes.
You can get that down the street in one of our Far Eastern neighborhoods!
I really don't miss the critters (if you know what I mean).
Hell awaits this bastard.
it is horrible,,, but what's up with these jerkoff dog owners who leave their dog outside all day and night to molest the neighbors? if these people loved their pooch as much as they claim, they wouldn't leave him outside all the time.
Throw the book at him.
It doesn't say day and night, nor does it define constant barking.
If it is during the day, the owners may not know the dog barks when they aren't home. I actually asked my neighbors if they were ever annoyed by mine... and maybe this guy complained, maybe this guy just had no tolerance for any barking that a dog will do when there are noises.
There has to be a special room in hell for bastards like this!!
My LulaBelle doesn't go outside without me or her daddy, Conspiracy Guy.
who said that the dog was kept outside?
umm dogs can be outside animals particularly if you live in a warm climate with lots of land.
nothing wrong with having a pet dog outdoors....
barking dogs can be heard from inside houses too
Agreed, people who abuse animals, rarely stop there.
Ah, I see the problem here. They used the entirely wrong method of "convincing" Babilya to reveal the location of the dog.
A man after my own heart...
What this guy did to that dog was wrong. But pet owners who allow their dog to bark constantly should be fined or something. This could have been avoided with proper trainging.
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