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| The pigs who filmed the pig |
VERO BEACH, FL -- A mother and daughter from Florida's Treasure Coast allegedly duct-taped a pig’s snout shut and provoked two dogs to attack and kill it in their backyard and then posted a video of it on Facebook, authorities said Friday.
Janice Ramirez, 55, and Ashley Ramirez, 21, of Vero Beach, were charged with animal cruelty after an anonymous tipster sent a copy of the video to authorities in March.
In the four-minute-plus video, the pig looks like it has duct tape wrapped across its snout and along its joints, the arrest affidavit said. Meanwhile, the pig can be heard squealing throughout the attack. At the end, it appears to be dead, authorities said.
Ashley Ramirez is also seen provoking the dogs to attack it, authorities said.
"Get him! Bite him," Ashley barked out orders to the dogs, Thor and Tank, during the attack. "They are doing some damage."
Janice Ramirez filmed the attack and can be heard laughing as the dogs tear at the pig's flesh. Near the end of the video, the duo discussed whether to feed the pig to the dogs raw or cooked.
Ashley Ramirez also posted on Facebook that the tape on the pig was to protect her dogs and to prevent the noise the pig was making from attracting her neighbors, authorities said.
Deputies subpoenaed the social networking site to get the address for the home in the video.
“It's one of the worst animal cruelty cases we've seen," Deryl Loar, Indian River County sheriff, told The Stuart News.
The women were arrested and charged with cruelty to animals and baiting animals on Wednesday. They were released on $10,000 bail each Thursday.
"You can see the dogs were hesitant at first," said Ilka Daniel, director of animal protection services for the Humane Society of Indian River and Vero Beach. "They were encouraged by their owners to attack. This is not the type of behavior these dogs normally do."
On Facebook, 40 comments were posted on the video, Deputy Luke Keppel told the paper.
"Some of the comments were negative," Keppel said. "Some people agreed with what the women were doing."
The women told authorities they bought the pig at a local farm.
"Their justification was they were going to kill the pig anyway," Detective Sgt. Nancy McNally said. "You can't justify this."
Police took the two dogs, along with 10 pit bull puppies and a Chihuahua found at the home.
No telephone number was listed for either of the women, and their attorneys' names weren't immediately known.
(NBC Miami - May 2011)
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