"American Bully" breeders try to convince police their puppies are worth $2,500 each

MASSACHUSETTS -- Two masked robbers pistol-whipped a man outside his home here on Tuesday night and assaulted his female companion before making off with a pair of the couple’s valuable American Bully puppies, in a calculated attack that sent the man to a hospital and left another dog with serious injuries, police said.

The assailants hid in a wooded area near 8 Witter St. until about 9:30 p.m., when they rushed the man, who is in his 30s and whom they apparently know, in his driveway and struck him in the head several times before snatching the keys to his house, according to Auburn police.

Once inside, the masked men assaulted a woman who lives in the home and stole two week-old American Bully puppies, which can sell for up to $5,000, police and a staffer with the American Bully Kennel Club said.

“The suspects also kicked and stomped the couple’s Pomeranian, causing possibly life-threatening injuries to that dog, before fleeing back into the woods” with the American Bully pups, Auburn police said in a statement.

During a briefing Wednesday, police Chief Andrew J. Sluckis Jr. said investigators were not sure if stealing the puppies, which were among a litter of eight, was the primary motive for the crime.
 
He said the robbers grabbed the woman’s hair and pushed her around inside the home, though she was not seriously hurt. Police did not identify the couple and said Wednesday afternoon that the man had been released from a Worcester hospital.

Detectives plan to interview him on Thursday.

Sluckis said physical evidence recovered at the crime scene shows a “direct correlation” between the two attackers and the male victim, though he did not elaborate.

The couple had planned to sell the two puppies for up to $2,500 each, Sluckis said, adding that police are investigating whether they operated an unlicensed dog breeding business in the residence.

The victims could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. The woman placed a sheet on the front door of the couple’s two-story home and refused to speak with reporters. A few large cages were visible in the back yard, which was surrounded by a fence.

Neighbors said the victims moved to the street within recent years and described them as quiet people who generally keep to themselves.

“I know everybody in this neighborhood except for them,” said Julie Lauzon, who has lived on nearby Main Street for the past 15 years. Lauzon said she heard yelling at about 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday but thought nothing of it, until several police cruisers arrived.

Cristy Silun, who lives next door to the couple, said she knows the man as Johnny.

Rob Halpin, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said his group is not involved in the investigation. He cautioned that people who sell pets online often are not forthcoming about how their animals are bred and kept, and he encouraged people to consider adopting pets before purchasing them.

The American Bully Kennel Club says on its website that the dogs are “compact and medium/large size . . . with a muscular body and blocky head.” The breed was created in 1990 and exhibits “confidence” and “a zest for life,” the site says.

(Boston Globe - June 17, 2015)