UXBRIDGE, Mass. – Kaylee Belanger’s Facebook post begins with a trigger warning: What follows is the lengthy tale of a dog that was allegedly buried alive, rescued, and euthanized in Massachusetts.
The post was made Sunday night, hours after Belanger called the Northbridge Police Department to report that she found the elderly Shih Tzu buried alive in the woods.
She ended up there thanks to Richard Piquard, the 24-year-old Whitinsville man who has been charged with animal cruelty in the case. She writes that on Sunday morning Piquard messaged her to say his dog Chico had died the night before, which she found suspicious as he has been trying to unload the animal.
She says she convinced him to tell her where Chico had been buried so she could retrieve the body and have the animal cremated. After some fruitless searching behind Piquard’s home, a noise was heard, and she says digging ultimately revealed a breathing Chico buried under 3 feet of dirt and a rock.
MassLive reports the dog was brought to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and was ultimately euthanized. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette cites authorities as saying Piquard allegedly buried the dog because it was clashing with his new kitten and his ex-girlfriend, whose family had owned the dog, couldn’t immediately take it.
Piquard was arraigned Tuesday and is free on $1,000 bail. He says he no longer has the cat but the judge granted the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals access to his home to verify that. Piquard has an Oct. 26 court date.
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