Samuel Smith, 24 of West Monroe, was arrested Thursday around 9:00 p.m.
According to the report, deputies with the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office spoke with the victim who stated she left her Yorkshire Terrier named Bitty Boo in the care of her friend Sam Smith at her residence at the Ashford Apartments on December 13, 2017.
Less than two hours later, she received a call from Smith saying her dog left the apartment without his knowledge and returned with injuries to his face.
The dog had severe, bloody injuries to his face and head as well as missing skin and hair. His eyes were also swollen and injured.
The dog was taken to a nearby veterinarian's office for treatment and at this time it is unknown if the damage to its eyes will be permanent.
The dog's owner, Sara Durbin, said she initially thought it was either a horrible accident or that some unknown person had hurt her tiny dog and that Bitty Boo escaped and made his way back home. She never suspected her friend Sam Smith of being the abuser.
However, later Sara found a chunk of Bitty Boo's fur inside her freezer. She said even then it didn't dawn on her what had happened. She said she thought to herself, "What's that doing in there?" But then she discovered more of Bitty Boo's fur inside the freezer as well as frozen blood spatter inside.
She said the fur didn't appear to have been cut off her dog as you would see with fur that's been cut off with scissors; it appeared to have been brutally yanked out of the dog's head.
On December 14, 2017, deputies met with Smith.
He admitted to spraying the dog with hot water in the bathroom of the apartment. Smith also stated he then carried the dog into the kitchen and shoved him inside the freezer. He claims that he only left Bitty Boo inside the freezer "for about 30 seconds".
The owner said the suspect also used a hair dryer on the dog after he was removed from the freezer.
It was either the boiling hot water or the hair dryer that caused the burn-type injuries to the dog's face (as well as the injury from having all of its hair forcefully jerked from its head and face - look at that dog's face. He wasn't able to yank all that fur out in one attempt. He held this little dog down and repeatedly grabbed chunks of hair and yanked, then yanked, then yanked, over and over again while the tiny dog cried and struggled).
Smith reportedly told police he did not like the dog but did not mean to mutilate it. The affidavit states, "arrestee described his actions as just 'messing' with the dog."
When he realized how much he had injured the little dog by torturing it, that's when he called the owner, Sara, and made up the lie that Bitty Boo had escaped the apartment and then suddenly shown back up with these horrific injuries.
Sara said she'd talked with mutual friends and "they don't understand either. None of us saw any signs that he was even capable of doing something like this".
I guess it's a good thing he panicked and called her so soon. Otherwise, the tiny dog may have been tortured for days before he finally killed him and disposed of his body. Then he could have simply lied to Sara, the owner, and told her Bitty Boo ran away - and they never would have found his body and Sara would never have known that her friend is a psychopath who enjoys torturing and killing defenseless animals.
Smith has been booked into the Ouachita Correctional Center on one count of aggravated animal cruelty.
His bond has been set at $5,000.
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ARREST INFORMATION:
Full name: Samuel Clayton Smith
Race: White
Sex: Male
Birthdate: 05/12/1993
Address: West Monroe, Louisiana 71291
Booking Date: 12/14/2017
Booking Time: 11:29 PM
Release Date: 12/15/2017
Release Time: 3:22 PM
Prisoner Type: Felony Pre-Trial
Booking Origin: Ouachita Parish Sheriff Office
Offense Date: 12/14/2017
Disposition: Bonded Out
Crime Class: FELONY
Arresting Agency: Ouachita Parish Sheriff Office
Charge Description: ANIMAL CRUELTY, AGGRAVATED
Statute: 14:102.1/B1
Bond Number: 2017-00013505
Total Bond Amount: $5,000.00
Created December 16, 2017
Sara Durbin
Animals
WEST MONROE, LA
My 3.5lb Yorkie was burned with scorching hot water and put in a freezer! I'm asking for help to get a lawyer to make sure he doesn't get away with this! So far, I have missed 3 days of work to be with her and the vet bills are getting higher. Please help me make this happen! She is a sweetheart and didn't deserve this!
