http://www.newsobserver.com/news/crime_safety/story/1211926.html?addcomment=true;#recent_comm

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"Thomasi McDonald, Staff Writer Comment on this story RALEIGH - By all accounts, Betty Richardson's Chihuahua, Noah, was a well-loved -- some would say spoiled -- little dog. Richardson's mother stayed with Noah each afternoon, so he would not get lonely while Richardson worked. The 5-pound dog had a Coach-brand collar, an N.C. State jacket for cool days and a raincoat for wet ones. He had pajamas, too, though Richardson said he rarely wore them. Noah died Aug. 30, just two months after celebrating his 12th birthday. Richardson says Noah perished under the thumb of a man who lives a few doors from her home. The neighbor, David Lance Upchurch, acknowledges holding the dog down, but says he did so only after Noah, who was unleashed, viciously attacked him. He says he did not apply enough pressure to kill Noah, and he points to studies that show tracheal collapse is a common medical condition among Chihuahuas. Police on Friday charged Upchurch, 37, of 1028 Cookwood Court, with cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor. Upchurch, who works in The News & Observer's information services department, posted a $500 bond. The incident has created tension in the Raleigh neighborhood where Richardson and Upchurch live. Upchurch has even filed a restraining order against another neighbor he says threatened to shoot him over Noah's death. Inside her family room, Richardson has fashioned a shrine to Noah. Under a photo of the dog staring into the camera, she wrote, "My sweet boy Noah ... R.I.P." His paw print is embedded in clay, and sympathy cards line a shelf. His ashes are kept in a velvet bag with gold lettering that reads, "Until We Meet Again At The Rainbow Bridge." On the day Noah died, Richardson said, she, her mother and the dog were on their front lawn at 1008 Cookwood when Upchurch walked up the cul-de-sac with Sasha, his black Labrador retriever. Noah ran to sniff Sasha, and the dogs growled at one another. Richardson said that as she reached to pick up Noah, Upchurch grabbed the dog, flipped him on his back and held him down while squeezing him between his breastbone and neck with a thumb and forefinger. "I told him, 'Don't do that,' " Richardson said. "He told me, 'No. This is what would happen if another dog wanted to kill your dog.' " Richardson said she scooped Noah up and took him inside. About five minutes later, she said, the dog's eyes were rolling toward the back of his head, and his tongue was lolling out of his mouth. Richardson rushed him to Knightdale Animal Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy was performed at Rollins Diagnostic Laboratory in Raleigh. Claim of self-defense Upchurch, who owns two Labs -- Sasha and Tyson, a golden --described the incident as self-defense against a Chihuahua attack. "Noah can still bite," he replied when asked how threatened he felt by a dog that weighed about as much as a bag of sugar. "Noah came out and attacked by growling, snarling with his teeth showing," Upchurch said. "I've been around dogs enough to know there was an attack." Richardson was on the phone and too far away to stop "the aggressive biting behavior," Upchurch said, adding that Sasha, who weighs about 100 pounds, stood behind him out of fear. Only after seeing there wasn't going to be any letup in Noah's behavior, Upchurch said, did he grab the Chihuahua, turn it on its side and hold it until Richardson arrived. "When she got there I released Noah into her custody," Upchurch said. "Betty told me he shouldn't have been outside and that she knows he's so spoiled." Richardson and Noah went inside, Upchurch said, and he continued walking Sasha. Two hours later, police showed up at his home and told him Noah had died. "I was completely shocked," Upchurch said. Neighborhood conflict Noah's death is just the latest case to stir the neighborhood. Last summer, Upchurch sued his next-door neighbor, Ronald Jenkins, 60, of 1032 Cookwood Court, for injury to real property after accusing Jenkins of using improper irrigation techniques that burned Upchurch's grass. A Wake County judge dismissed the case, attributing the dried grass to the drought, court records show. Upchurch now has a concrete gargoyle on his front porch that faces Jenkins' home. He said the gargoyle is a Christian symbol used to ward off evil spirits. "[Jenkins] is an evil spirit," he said. After Noah died, Upchurch said, Jenkins went door to door claiming that Noah had been kicked, choked and thrown to the ground. Upchurch filed a restraining order against Jenkins, saying at least three neighbors told him that Jenkins threatened to shoot him, according to the order. Jenkins denied saying he was going to shoot Upchurch. "A bunch of us were in the street wondering how could he kill this harmless little dog," Jenkins said. "I said, 'He needs to be in jail.' That's it." Richardson, meanwhile, is setting up a scholarship in Noah's memory. "Noah's Bark" will pay up to $100 each year for textbooks for a student attending veterinary school in North Carolina. thomasi.mcdonald@newsobserver. com or (919) 829-4533"

9/9/2008 12:54:09 PM

He strangled a miniature chihuahua because it was threatening him and his dog

people like this should be castrated

9/9/2008 12:55:35 PM

Quote :

"Richardson said she scooped Noah up and took him inside. About five minutes later, she said, the dog's eyes were rolling toward the back of his head, and his tongue was lolling out of his mouth."

9/9/2008 12:56:40 PM

Speaking of people that murder little animals:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cheri-shankar/palin-shows-no-love-for-b_b_124532.html

9/9/2008 12:57:19 PM

And the dog was a State fan also.

9/9/2008 12:57:39 PM

This is horrible. But this is also why you keep your dogs on a leash.

Three or four times now, I've been walking my dog (a 65-lb black lab mix) on her leash and had this little unleashed pitbull puppy come running up. The first time, my dog liked it just fine. But lately, as the puppy comes over and tries to bite at her ears and face, my dog starts to growl and get angry.

Next time it happens, I'm going to have to talk to the owner and just be like, "Listen, I'm not trying to be rude, but I'll be goddamned if I'm held responsible if your dog gets hurt when my dog defends herself because your dog is not on a leash. HE thinks he's playing. MY dog does not think it's fun."

9/9/2008 1:04:33 PM

Honestly, if it happened off her property, it's her fault. I have trouble believing he turned the dog over and used his thumb and forefinger to crush it's trachea. That just sounds weird man. Plus, you don't have to let an animal attack you, period. It doesn't matter how big it is. Note that a cat, which is pretty much the size of a chihuahua, can easily inflict serious wounds. A small dog can do the same, which could have easily caused a wound and possible subsequent infection in the victim or his dog. The fact is that he was being responsible and she wasn't, so I don't feel bad for her. He probably held it down until she got there, just like he said. That's not excessive, it's making sure you and your dog (Who are both being responsible) don't get hurt.

It's also protecting her little yap yap from running out into the god damned road and getting hit by a car. Honestly it just doesn't sound like he did anything on purpose. If he did, I still don't see the problem with it. Shit man, I'd shoot a dog with no hesitation if it posed a major threat to me. Granted you wouldn't have to shoot the yapper to make it stop, but I definitely wouldn't hesitate to hold it down or fucking punt it back into her yard. It's insane that he's been charged with a crime due to her incompetence as a pet owner. Fuck that shit.

I also believe his story a lot more than hers. It makes sense that she would just say "Oh he got out, he's so spoiled" and then walk away. It makes far less sense for him to grab the dog from her, flip it over and use his thumb and forefinger to purposely crush its trachea while saying "this is what my dog would do if it wanted to kill your dog." That shit just doesn't make sense dude.

[Edited on September 9, 2008 at 1:36 PM. Reason : ]

9/9/2008 1:13:24 PM

yeah it's pretty obvious she killed her own dog just to make her neighbor look like a dick

downright transparent even

9/9/2008 1:20:07 PM

^ I'm not quite sure I understand where that came from...

9/9/2008 1:21:19 PM

Yeah, it makes absolutely no sense.

[Edited on September 9, 2008 at 1:22 PM. Reason : ]

9/9/2008 1:22:01 PM

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"his tongue was lolling out of his mouth."

Honestly, no dog smaller than my foot should EVER cross me. I will end you, regardless.

9/9/2008 1:25:50 PM

This is why some people shouldn't own dogs.
It sucks that this dog died, but the owner should have kept the thing under control.
And she should have trained it so that when it gets away from her it does not act aggressive towards random people/dogs that it might encounter.
She owns the responsibility for letting this happen and I hope she is smarter if she gets another one.

Maybe the dog was just fragile, but my bet is that the guy did manhandle it somewhat. How else are you going to deal with a snapping dog though?

9/9/2008 1:30:00 PM

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"Noah's death is just the latest case to stir the neighborhood. Last summer, Upchurch sued his next-door neighbor, Ronald Jenkins, 60, of 1032 Cookwood Court, for injury to real property after accusing Jenkins of using improper irrigation techniques that burned Upchurch's grass. A Wake County judge dismissed the case, attributing the dried grass to the drought, court records show. Upchurch now has a concrete gargoyle on his front porch that faces Jenkins' home. He said the gargoyle is a Christian symbol used to ward off evil spirits. "[Jenkins] is an evil spirit," he said. "

Classic crazy ass old man in the neighborhood. We have one of those in my neighborhood too. Good thing I have normal sized dogs.

9/9/2008 1:35:02 PM

I wouldn't mind pointing a few gargoyles at your home....

9/9/2008 1:36:47 PM

I have a gargoyle, but only because I thought it looked badass. I didn't know I was warding away evil spirits too.

9/9/2008 1:38:29 PM

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"Noah died Aug. 30, just two months after celebrating his 12th birthday. "

That's 84 in people years. The holding down probably didn't help the dog's situation or health, but the damn thing was fucking 12 years old.
1. Should've been on a leash - kind of a Wake County law...
2. Richardson should have been paying attention to her poor sweet little rat
3. Upchurch wasn't trying to kill the dog, if anything he was showing HIS dog who was in charge, so his dog wouldn't attack Noah and potentially kill him...creating more drama.
4. Richardson's a dumb cunt. I hate people who can't control their animals, people who ask for pity and people who dress up chihuahuas.

And 5. This Jenkins fellow....wtf? Wasn't even THERE, yet somehow he *knows* the dog was kicked & thrown to the ground. Of course..the whole suing over burning grass + a gargoyle thing is a little ??????

9/9/2008 1:39:04 PM

this is why i hate people so much

9/9/2008 2:08:07 PM

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"Claim of self-defense"

against a 5 pound Chihuahua ? wtf?

9/9/2008 2:11:58 PM

Those fuckers are vicious. One less yappy.

9/9/2008 3:01:10 PM

If he'd wanted to kill the damned thing, he would've just punted it into next week.

9/9/2008 3:07:16 PM

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"against a 5 pound Chihuahua ? wtf?"

well, if he really was trying to get it away without hurting it, yeah...it's easy to beat back a 5lb chihuahua if you don't care about killing it

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"Those fuckers are vicious. One less yappy."

yes, they are...chihuahuas, as a general rule, are MEAN and moody

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"If he'd wanted to kill the damned thing, he would've just punted it into next week."

exactly

9/9/2008 3:16:37 PM

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"his tongue was lolling out of his mouth."

he LOLed em' all.






sorry, i know

9/9/2008 3:23:12 PM

update:

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"Dog died of chest trauma Report says Chihuahua also suffered eye injury RALEIGH - Betty Richardson's Chihuahua, Noah, died of trauma to his upper chest and eyes, according to a necropsy report. Richardson has accused her Southeast Raleigh neighbor David Upchurch of fatally injuring Noah on Aug. 30 by holding him down and squeezing him between his breastbone and neck. Police charged Upchurch with misdemeanor cruelty to animals. A necropsy performed by Rollins Laboratory on Blue Ridge Road found gross lesions that were "consistent" with the trauma Richardson reported. The lab also found a bruise on Noah's upper sternum and trauma in his eyes. "I found out what happened to my little boy," Richardson said Wednesday after receiving a report of the findings. Upchurch, who is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 7 to answer the cruelty charge, said he plans to bring a medical expert to go over the report "with a fine-toothed comb." "That's interesting," he said of the report's findings. "I never touched the dog's chest or eyes." Upchurch, who works in The News & Observer's information services department, said he was defending himself and his black Labrador, Sasha, from a growling, teeth-baring Noah. He said he did not apply enough pressure to kill the dog, who died shortly afterward. Upchurch added that he doubted his likely acquittal in court will get the same type of media coverage as the charge itself. "My acquittal won't be on the front page of the news, and it won't show me holding up my attorney's hand in victory," he said. The necropsy report noted that Noah, 12, had a history of chronic heart disease but that it did not contribute to Noah's death. The dog also was treated for an ear infection during his annual exam a week before he died. The story of Noah's death has been distributed widely on the Internet, and Richardson said she has been invited to appear next week on NBC's "Today Show." Richardson said she has agreed to be interviewed on the national morning program, but Upchurch said he declined a similar offer to appear on the show. The 5-pound, long-haired Chihuahua wore a Coach-brand collar and had an N.C. State jacket for cold days and a raincoat for wet ones"

9/18/2008 3:33:40 PM

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"The 5-pound, long-haired Chihuahua wore a Coach-brand collar and had an N.C. State jacket for cold days and a raincoat for wet ones"

i, without any reservation, despise people like this

9/18/2008 3:35:49 PM

jesus

the media wants to crucify this guy

9/18/2008 3:39:49 PM

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"The 5-pound, long-haired Chihuahua wore a Coach-brand collar and had an N.C. State jacket for cold days and a raincoat for wet ones"

fucking bitch and her precious princess, I don't care if it had an NC State jacket, if you ever watch The Dog Whisperer, owners who treat their dogs like this are almost always completely worthless and morons, and I'm sure, because of the owner's inability to raise and train her 'little angel' it developed a lot of personality issues that led to it's demise.

I'm sorry the dog died, but if some little chihuahua runs up to me going vicious ballistic you bet your ass I'm going to restrain that dog with enough force that it gets the message pretty quick that it isn't going anywhere.

Bottom line, keeping the dog trained and leashed was the owner's responsibility, and by letting it run free the blame lies on her. It's not like the guy punted the little guy either, if he was a bad bad man who wanted to kill dogs he could have done it a lot easier than holding the dog down.

People that kick and abuse dogs are total sacks of shit, I have dogs and love them, but I don't see anything that guy did that was malicious or places the blame on him.

EDIT: and i doesn't matter how big a dog is for it to do damage, their jaw muscles are damn powerful, one time when my dog was little (like a foot long) he got some briars in him, and when I was trying to take them out it hurt him and he got scared/mad and clamped down on my hand, damn near bit through it

[Edited on September 18, 2008 at 3:56 PM. Reason : ]

9/18/2008 3:50:43 PM

This sounds like a case of asshat v. thundercunt

9/18/2008 3:53:32 PM

Isn't there a leash law in Raleigh? So.. the fucking Chihuahua should have been on a leash, if it wasn't and went out to be aggressive, I could care less what happens.

There used to be this little nippy dog near my parent's house, every time I went running it would nip on my heels for half a block and the owner would just let it roam outside. Finally I just kicked it hard one day. I didn't kill it of course, but if ti had been old I might have, like in this case. I like animals, but if some dog comes up to me, in the street, and is growling, barking, acting aggressive and the owner isn't there, then people have the right to restrain the animal.

9/18/2008 4:00:16 PM

people like this (all 3 of them are crazy) and HOAs are why i will never live in a neighborhood

9/18/2008 4:02:03 PM

I'm on the side of Upchurch. Sounds like a BS charge. A nasty unleashed 5 lb dog is a problem. Sounds like he might have hurt it, but it was unintentional. If he wanted to hurt it he could just kick it.

I agree its the owners fault. Sounds like she babied the hell out of this dog so there's no doubt in my mind all that contributed to a spoiled bad behaving dog.

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" Note that a cat, which is pretty much the size of a chihuahua, can easily inflict serious wounds"

Okay, who the hell has a 5lb cat? I don't know any cats less than twice, or triple that size.

9/18/2008 4:04:22 PM

should've just kicked the shit out of it

9/18/2008 4:14:47 PM

we have some little cats that run around here


and on a personal not, having worked at a vet clinic, i've seen some pretty mean cats

i had one bite my thumb into the bone on each side (through the thumb nail too)... that was probably the worst i had there from any animals (and we had some 200lb dogs that came in)

9/18/2008 4:15:09 PM

Quote :

"but if some little chihuahua runs up to me going vicious ballistic you bet your ass I'm going to restrain that dog with enough force that it gets the message pretty quick that it isn't going anywhere."

you show that toy dog big man.....

9/18/2008 4:46:06 PM