On Friday, December 18th, our dogs Zoey and Diego (pictured below) were brutally murdered in our backyard at around 11:30 am by the dog from 25401 Ryan Lane. The dogs had just been let out for their morning bathroom break while I was cooking. I had left for only a few seconds before returning and seeing a huge dark brown dog circling a small area of a yard. I screamed for my 19-year-old son, who had already been sitting in the living room, he came running with me running but we were already too late. The dog had finished making a toy out of our dogs and they were already dead.

This next paragraph is not faint-hearted as it includes graphic and disturbing details. We first found Diego in a bloody pool in the grass. To our horror, he was bitten in half, his skull dislocated, and his eyes bulging. He was dead on the scene. I searched for Zoey, hoping she had escaped but after seeing her dress torn in the grass, I mentally prepared for the worse before coming across her body by our fire pit. She stared at us helplessly, unable to walk as her leg was torn and her jaw was dislocated. We hurriedly grabbed what was left of our beloved pets and took off to the Animal Care Center of Plainfield. The doctors did everything they could to save Zoey but her wounds would leave her with a horrible quantity of life, every day would be a struggle and she was not guaranteed to live. So, we had to make the painful decision to put her down. 

After leaving the hospital, we went back home to see what could be done. We had many questions. Why did this happen? How did this happen? We reviewed the camera footage of our yard and saw that seconds after we let out our dogs, their unsupervised dog managed to ram its body through our cedar fence and execute our babies in under 30 seconds. Our neighbors had failed to use their own fence for their property. Essentially, they were relying on our fence to contain their wild dog. They were too cheap to buy a whole fence to surround their property. They only installed a fence in the open areas. While this would normally not be an issue, they clearly were aware of their vicious dog was it had been chewing at our fence which they had tried to cover with a tarp-like material. We have contacted the police, animal control, HOA, and many lawyers only to learn that the only guaranteed punishment would be a $150.00 ticket and we could only receive additional compensation if we filed through civil court. Even so, we would only be able to sue for property damage, medical bills, funeral expenses, and the lives of Zoey and Diego. Furthermore, we learned the dog would not be taken away unless it received 3 documented strikes against him. This means the murder of our babies only counted as 2 strikes and the dog would need to harm or kill another person or pet before it is finally taken away.

Through all this pain and loss, our heartless neighbors never once apologized let alone talk to us. All they did was take their dog out of our property and proceed to avoid us for what has now been 4 days and counting. The only interactions we have had with them have been initiated by us. The first time was when we screamed at him to take his dog away after the murder. The second time was the following day, after a sleepless night, we heard a noise in our yard and went to investigate. We saw our neighbors discreetly replacing the broken boards from our fence. He never notified us that he was going to do this. In a moment of anger, we confronted him and asked him what he thought he was doing. He was surprised and gave an apology while continuing to nail the boards before retreating into his house. The third time was on Sunday, December 20th, when we had seen our neighbors with their dog in the yard having a good time. My husband went out and asked them if they could have some decent sympathy and to keep the dog out of sight. Additionally, he requested if they could drop the insurance information off at our house either by putting it in the mailbox or taping it to our door. The neighbor then explained that he was the boyfriend of the owner of the house and it was her who owned the dog however he would pass this information on to her. It is important to note that we have not seen this woman, all we know is her name Veronica Leticia Arteaga. We have since been waiting for her insurance information. In this conversation, the neighbor had even admitted to having bought an electrical fence for their dog prior to the incident. This further acknowledges the fact that they were aware of how ferocious their dog truly was yet proceeded to let it roam unsupervised. Our neighbors continue to live their lives without any remorse. They even went as far as to install a hot tub in their yard not even a few days after the incident.

We are heartbroken and having a hard time coping with this tragedy. However, we have made it our mission to not let anyone suffer such a disaster. We have notified all of the surrounding neighbors of this vicious dog especially since many of them own a dog or have small children. We have continued to notify the police and animal control. Unfortunately, it seems like nothing is being done which is why we are reaching out to our neighbors for additional support.

My family will not be able to rest until Zoey and Diego receive the justice they deserve. We need this vicious dog out of the neighborhood so we can finally be at peace. We never thought such a horrible thing would happen to our family, especially during our first Christmas in our new forever home.