FAST FACTS:
(Memphis 09/01/2010) The family says you just don't know who you can trust these days.
They left their dogs with a family friend who lived with them and when they returned the dogs were gone.
When they were found, they'd been set on fire.
The family cherishes pictures of Patches, the pit bull, and Neena, the Schnauzer/Jack Russell Terrier mix.
They are the pictures the family wants to remember not the ones that show them in their last days before they were put to sleep.
The fur was burned from their bodies.
One was almost completely bare.
"This is where the Schnauzer was trying to put herself out. You can actually see the burn around here," said Quintavious Davis.
The dog belonged to Davis' stepmother.
She rescued the dogs from the street hoping to give them a better life.
She did the same for 22-year-old Dante Sea.
She never thought he'd turn on the family or the family dogs, but police say he did. After first denying he burned the dogs, police say Sea admitted he did it.
We're told, as the dogs were burning, Sea poured gasoline on them to keep the flames going.
In the back yard we spotted an empty gas container and an empty bottle of lighter fluid believed to have been used in the crime.
Davis said, "That's my dog's flesh and fur. You can see blood drops. That's the burn marks on the gate. That's how we figured everything out. From this right here."
After the dogs were set on fire, they busted through the gate trying to put themselves out. They lived through the fire but the pain of their singed body was too much.
A vet had to put them to sleep.
Now, the family is left to wonder how someone they thought they knew could be so cruel.
Davis said, "He torched the dogs. What was the cause of it? I have no idea."
Dante Sea is charged with 2 counts of aggravated animal cruelty and false reporting because police say he lied at first to cover up the crime.
He was in court today.
A judge set his bond at $25,000.
- Family's dogs set on fire
- Family friend arrested
- Dogs euthanized because of pain
(Memphis 09/01/2010) The family says you just don't know who you can trust these days.
They left their dogs with a family friend who lived with them and when they returned the dogs were gone.
When they were found, they'd been set on fire.
The family cherishes pictures of Patches, the pit bull, and Neena, the Schnauzer/Jack Russell Terrier mix.
They are the pictures the family wants to remember not the ones that show them in their last days before they were put to sleep.
The fur was burned from their bodies.
One was almost completely bare.
"This is where the Schnauzer was trying to put herself out. You can actually see the burn around here," said Quintavious Davis.
The dog belonged to Davis' stepmother.
She rescued the dogs from the street hoping to give them a better life.
She did the same for 22-year-old Dante Sea.
She never thought he'd turn on the family or the family dogs, but police say he did. After first denying he burned the dogs, police say Sea admitted he did it.
We're told, as the dogs were burning, Sea poured gasoline on them to keep the flames going.
In the back yard we spotted an empty gas container and an empty bottle of lighter fluid believed to have been used in the crime.
Davis said, "That's my dog's flesh and fur. You can see blood drops. That's the burn marks on the gate. That's how we figured everything out. From this right here."
After the dogs were set on fire, they busted through the gate trying to put themselves out. They lived through the fire but the pain of their singed body was too much.
A vet had to put them to sleep.
Now, the family is left to wonder how someone they thought they knew could be so cruel.
Davis said, "He torched the dogs. What was the cause of it? I have no idea."
Dante Sea is charged with 2 counts of aggravated animal cruelty and false reporting because police say he lied at first to cover up the crime.
He was in court today.
A judge set his bond at $25,000.
