Dog Euthanized After Being Buried Alive For Not Getting Along With Kitten

A Massachusetts man was arrested Sunday after he buried his dog alive because it wasn't getting along with his cat, police said. After being dug up, the dog had to be euthanized.

Richard Piquard, 24, buried 18-year-old old Shih Tzu named Chico in the wooded area behind his home while the dog was still alive, Northbridge Police Chief Walter Warchol said.

Piquard had got the dog from a deceased relative and had taken care of it for about 18 months. He then went on to get a 7-week-old kitten. While texting a family friend, Kaylee Belanger, Piquard informed her about the kitten and later told her the dog died. "She's a cutie," she wrote about the cat to which he responded by saying, "Chico ended up passing last night and yes she is haha.”

According to a Facebook post by Belanger, she became suspicious after Piquard told her he wanted to get rid of the dog and the next day messaged her saying Chico died. Belanger immediately began searching for the pet to cremate it. After about 45 minutes of searching, she and her fiancé found Chico buried alive under a rock, and proceeded to inform the police.

“I lifted the rock up and you can see a little bit of fur when I did that. He was under there and my fiancé screamed ‘he’s breathing, he’s alive,’” she said, local daily WHDH reported.

Chico was taken to Tufts Veterinary Hospital in Grafton but had to be euthanized.

“It was awful. He was crying, wheezing, and covered in dirt. His mouth was completely full of dirt. He couldn’t move his neck and when he tried, he screamed in pain,” she said. "It was recommended to do so due to the quality of life he would have if we attempted the surgeries," the Daily Wire reported.

Reacting to the incident, Warchol said, "Even in my 41 years here, I've never seen anything like it. We've seen other forms of animal cruelty. Burying something alive is a little beyond the reach,” Fox News reported.

After speaking to Belanger and the veterinarian, officials charged Piquard with one count of animal cruelty and later released him on $1,000 cash bail. He was scheduled to be arraigned in Uxbridge District Court on Tuesday, and could face a maximum of five years in prison if convicted.

Piquard’s neighbors were in disbelief when they heard of the incident.

“I can’t understand it. He’s a nice young man and I would have never thought of anything like this,” one neighborhood resident said.

In a similar instance of animal cruelty in June, a dog died after construction workers poured boiling tar over it as it slept on the roadside in the Indian city of Agra. The workers were building a new road but instead of chasing the stray dog away, they buried it alive before flattening it with a roller.

“The dog’s legs were buried under the tar and it was writhing in agony. The workers refused to break the road to remove it. The dog died after,” a local resident said.