Massachusetts

Guilty Verdict in ‘Puppy Doe' Animal Abuse Trial

A 36-year-old Quincy man has been found guilty in the so-called "Puppy Doe" animal abuse trial.

Radoslaw Czerkawski was found guilty Monday of 12 counts of felony animal cruelty and not guilty of one count of lying to police. Czerkawski made national headlines back in 2013 for allegedly abusing a pit bull known as "Puppy Doe."

Jurors deliberated for about a day after closing arguments concluded Thursday. Court was not in session on Friday.

The pit bull mix — originally known as Kiya — was found starving and beaten in Quincy back in August 2013. Witnesses testified she had injuries that spanned a number of weeks, including broken and dislocated bones, cigarette burns, stab wounds and a split tongue.

Czerkawski's defense attorney Larry Tipton argued that his client wasn't the person who abused the dog.

"He had a dog, the dog ran away, and if it is the same dog in the street, the dog was injured by other people," Tipton said. "They want you to believe that this man brutally and savagely clipped the tongue of that dog, and they don't have one piece of evidence."

But prosecutors allege Czerkawski abandoned Kiya on the same day that the 95-year-old woman he was caring for on Whitwell Street died — allegedly so the animal abuse wouldn't be discovered.

"He is the last person ever seen with Kiya healthy, and he is the person that inflicted those injuries on Kiya," Assistant District Attorney Gregory Connors said.

Czerkawski is already serving time in prison for stealing more than $100,000 from the elderly woman for whom he was a caregiver.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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