Police continue to search for three youths who beat a dog to death in the French city of Montpellier and assaulted Jérôme, the man responsible for the dog while his office colleague remained in the hospital.
Days after the attack, Jérôme spoke to the press, explaining that on the night of April 27, three individuals approached him in the park and beat Zoé, an 8-year-old Jack Russell terrier, to death while trying to rob Jérôme (his first name has been changed). Jérôme expressed shock over the incident, saying, “She was a very nice dog, very calm, who never barked, and who had been abused at birth.”
Jérôme was responsible for the dog for six months while an office colleague of his remained in the hospital, according to French news outlet CNews. He had already helped the dog lose weight by taking it on a daily walk near a sports stadium in the area and had never had a problem before the attack.
[pp id=61910]
One of the three men, the only one whom the victim was able to describe to the police, was wearing a hood and a thin black down jacket. Jérôme described him as a “North African type” in his twenties with a slight accent common with urban youth. That individual grabbed Jérôme and told him to give him everything he had in his pockets. He pushed Jérôme to the ground and patted down his pockets to make sure they were empty.
The youths appeared to be unhappy to not find anything. Jérôme had stored his phone in a pocket near his knee, which they failed to searched. One of them then punched Jérôme in his face while the two accomplices started kicking Zoé. Jérôme described the blows as “gratuitous” as the dog simply remained motionless throughout the attack, prostate on the ground, and did not even bark or try to run away.
[pp id=72600]
After the three men were done, Jérôme heard them burst into laughter, a fact also noted in the police report.
“They left laughing,” said the victim.
Jérôme said that Zoé died in his arms within minutes. He realized the animal was gone and called an emergency veterinary service, which referred him to the police.
He left the dog’s body, which he said was “difficult” and walked to a dirt road to meet a patrol car arriving on scene.
[pp id=59870]
An autopsy showed the dog died from internal bleeding and blows to the head. The autopsy also ruled that the dog may have experienced an adrenaline shock that contributed to its death.
Jérôme emerged from the ordeal with a back injury, which he had treated at the emergency room.
Police say they have made progress on the case and said that a t-shirt the victim was wearing is being examined for DNA traces of the perpetrator.
The prefect of Hérault, Hugues Moutouh, expressed his indignation in a tweet. Faced with a “heinous act,” he indicated that “everything is being done to find the perpetrators.”
Last year, French President Emmanuel Macron admitted that half of all crime in Paris is committed by migrants, with some critics of his administration claiming that it is over two-thirds.
The country has seen a dramatic rise in crime over the last 20 years in tandem with rising immigration.
