KCTV 5Family's dog brutally killed and left in street

A Northland family is missing one very special member after their pet Chihuahua, Chica, was brutally attacked and left for dead. Animal control said it is one of the worst cases of animal cruelty they have ever seen.

A warning - the details of this case are disturbing.

Kansas City Animal Control said they have assigned the case to a team of investigators that are now working with police. It's left a Northland family scared and searching for answers.

Armani, 6, played alone Friday because his sidekick, Chica, was not by his side. On a normal day, if the dog wasn't by his side, she'd be trying to catch food dropped by his baby sisters.

"I was calling for her around here... ‘Chica'... she didn't come," Danielle Carter said.

Carter said the family's 4-year-old pet Chihuahua ran outside to chase a cat Thursday afternoon near NE 50th Street and North Kensington. It did not take her long to find the dog in the street.

"I walked up to her... right when I saw her, I knew," she said. "She didn't just get hit, something, I didn't know what it was. My first thought was she had battery acid poured on her - she didn't have any hair on her side."

Animal control said what happened to the dog was no accident, but instead a case of animal abuse with many of the details too gruesome to share.

"It was like unreal. That is something you see in the movies. ‘Things like that don't happen like that in real life...' I guess it does," Carter said.

The mother said Chica was only outside for 45 minutes.

"It was done so fast and so precise, I feel whoever did this wanted us to hurt and had a problem and it was something they were premeditating. They knew what they were going to do, knew they were going to find her back in front of the house. I don't know. I don't know," she said.

Kansas City Animal Control is asking anyone with information to contact police or call the city's 311 Action center. They caution pet owners to keep pets on leashes and within yards in the neighborhood near N. Brighton Ave. and NE Vivion Road in north Kansas City.

Love4Paws is offering a reward of $1,500 for tips leading to an arrest and conviction.  Tips can also be e-mailed to rescue@love4pawskc.com.

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