Authorities said the dog was stabbed in the eye.
Credit: Norfolk district attorney’s office.
A 32-year-old man has been charged in a twisted case of animal abuse that police say has drawn worldwide attention.
Polish-born Radoslaw Artur Czerkawski is due in Quincy District Court today to answer to 11 charges of animal cruelty and a charge of misleading a police investigation, Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan said.
Czerkawski is suspected of torturing and abandoning “Puppy Doe,” a female pit bull-type dog that was found severely injured in Quincy on Aug. 31. She eventually died because of the extent of her injuries.
Doctors at the Animal Rescue League of Boston said the dog was starved and beaten, and had several fractured bones in her head and body. Her tongue appeared to be crudely cut to create a serpent-like split, and she had also been stabbed in the eye.
“Our detectives have been working pretty much around the clock on this,” Keenan said at a media briefing today.
Police say Czerkawski was staying with a woman in Quincy and acting her caretaker at the time of the abuse. The woman reportedly died the same day the dog succumbed to her injuries.
Czerkawski was arrested last Wednesday in New Britain, Conn., and was brought to Quincy yesterday following an appearance in Superior Court, where he required a translator because, according to officials, he only speaks Polish.
The animal cruelty charges carry sentences of up to 5 years in prison.
Because of a massive outpouring of support following the news of the case, the ARL started a reward fund of $5,000 to help in the identification and arrest of the dog’s abuser.
