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A Fulton County, Georgia man is facing animal cruelty charges after video posted to Facebook shows him intentionally terrifying his dog with fireworks.
In the video, the dog’s owner, William Scaffidi is seen lighting a string of fireworks behind the husky mix. The dog runs back and forth terrified. Someone in the background is heard laughing. The man’s 13-year old daughter filmed the incident and posted it to Facebook.
The video quickly went viral as shocked animal lovers, appalled at Scaffidi’s actions, began contacting authorities.
“The floodgates opened, every other call that has come in today has been about this,” said Tim Poorman, Field Services Director at Fulton County Animal Services. “We have had calls from all over the country, from Canada and Mexico.”
Animal Services visited the Scaffidi home and issued citations for the abuse and for not having his dog licensed. Officers were unable to remove the dog from the home as he appeared to be a good health and well cared for.
Scaffidi will appear in Fulton County Magistrate Court on July 26. He is facing fines of up to $500 and up to 6 months in jail. In addition, the judge can order him to surrender the dog and prevent him from ever owning animals in Fulton County again.
Scaffidi asserts that he meant no harm and just thought the prank would be “funny.” He told 11Alive the ordeal has been “brutal, just brutal and terrible for my family. I plan to exonerate myself.”
Carole
says:Dude, you cannot exonerate yourself. You did the deed. It was stupid. It was thoughtless. It was cruel. The fact that you thought of it as funny or a prank is evidence of just how stupid, thoughtless and cruel you are whether you see yourself that way or not. That your daughter recorded it shows that you are raising your daughter to have the same human failures that you have. Be a man, admit you were a stupid, thoughtless, cruel ass, accept your (light) punishment, apologize to your dog and then have a long discussion with your daughter about why this was wrong and how she should grow up to be a better person than you’re currently demonstrating to her.
Donna Davis
says:No tolerance for abuse and cruelty. What is wrong with these people? I’m happy to know the response has been brutal! Get a clue, jerk, you’re just teaching your children to be as irresponsible and cruel as you for entertainment. You do not deserve this dog who depends on you for protection!
Teresa
says:You should have thought about how “brutal” this would be for your family before you did such an asinine thing.And you you deserve to be brutalized just like your poor dog was…smh.
Barbara Brown
says:“I plan to exonerate myself.” That is going to be pretty hard to do since your daughter filmed your abuse; and because she has never been taught that this is unacceptable behavior (you know, because her father is a schmuck monster) she bragged and thought it was “funny” just like you. Far from exonerated you have actually further incriminated yourself, come to think of it, maybe some child endangerment charges should be in order, after all that dog could have become disoriented and attacked your daughter….but I am sure that would have simply been a death sentence for your poor innocent pooch.
Brandi
says:This is the most horrible time for most dogs, and you POS will not be exanorated as you are the animal in this situation.. You dog was beyond petrified and it amused you and now the child you are raising to be a “little monster” I do hope you serve jail time.. You dog taken away as this poor baby was scared beyond it should EVER be buy the one it trust..
Rie A
says:asshole simple and teach your little ones to be monsters way to go, hope they take the dog and not let you own another and you do jail time