A Puppy Was Burned in Boiling Water After a Mother-Daughter Argument, but Nobody Will Face Charges, Prosecutor Says

A Detroit woman’s months-old puppy suffered severe burns from boiling bath water shortly after she got in a heated argument with her teenage daughter. Now, a prosecutor has announced that no one will face charges for injuring the dog as there is simply not enough evidence.

The altercation occurred in the early hours of Jan. 21, with officers reporting to a Detroit home after a 19-year-old woman called 911 to report that her mother was “intoxicated and antagonizing her,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a June 27 press release. The mom was relocated overnight to another location, and later that morning, police received another 911 call — this time from the mother.

When the mother returned home, one of her dogs — a male Jack Russell Terrier named Gideon, who was around 4 to 5 months old at the time — “was crying with severe burns on its body,” Worthy said. Police later described the condition of the animal on that day as in “deep distress with burns on its legs and face.”

“She said she called the police because her 19-year-old daughter threw her dog in a tub of hot water,” the prosecutor said. “She was not home at the time it happened, but thought her daughter did it because they had an argument earlier.”

According to Worthy, the mom’s younger daughter, 13, told police she “heard the dog crying and saw it run down the stairs with severe burns screaming,” and believed him to be too small to jump into the tub on his own — which is what her older sister claims occurred.

The 19-year-old told police that she ran water, left it in the tub and was upstairs when Gideon entered the water and screamed, the prosecutor said. Her boyfriend then lifted the puppy out of the water, she claimed.

A third daughter, who was not involved in the situation, got help for the dog from Detroit Animal Welfare Group (DAWG), Worthy said. DAWG is a volunteer-run group dedicated to helping “neglected, sick and homeless animals,” per its website.

With the group’s assistance, Gideon was admitted to an animal hospital, treated for 10 days and released to a foster home, where he continued outpatient care for two weeks. He “was treated for pain, refusal to walk, weight loss, bacterial infections, necrotic skin and third-degree burns,” Worthy said.

DAWG also held fundraisers for Gideon’s medical expenses, and shared the pup’s story on social media. The group gave frequent updates on his condition, including his first bath after the incident, his fur growing back and the first time he used his still-healing paws to play. In June, DAWG shared that Gideon had made progress overcoming his “trauma” by willingly stepping into a puddle.

Worthy was alerted to Gideon’s situation in February through social media reports, and launched an investigation into the claims of abuse, she said in the June 27 press release. But, the prosecutor explained, there was simply not enough evidence to raise charges against the 19-year-old daughter, or anyone else.

A veterinary expert who specializes in animal cruelty was consulted in the investigation, per Worthy, and concluded that Gideon did not jump into the tub of his own volition.

The expert determined that he “was likely placed into the tub hind limbs first, followed by his forelimbs, and remained there for seconds or minutes when he was removed from the tub,” Worthy said. “As a result, Gideon’s injuries caused severe, long-lasting pain, were life-threatening and required extensive and expensive medical care.”

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Everyone involved was also interviewed by investigators, except for the 13-year-old daughter, whom the mom failed to produce twice, Worthy said. And the mom later changed her statement, revising her story to match her 19-year-old daughter’s account, according to the prosecutor.

As a result, investigators “concluded that the facts and evidence do not support that a case against the 19-year-old can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. That is the required legal standard in a criminal case,” the press release states. “The recommendation was made to Prosecutor Worthy to deny the warrant request. Prosecutor Worthy reviewed the case and determined that the facts and evidence did not support charging. The warrant request is accordingly denied for insufficient evidence to prosecute.”

Following the announcement of Worthy’s decision, community members shared their outrage on social media and protested the decision in person, per DAWG. The Detroit-area group also shared its plans to take legal action.

“This is the most horrific case of animal abuse we have seen, and we have a private attorney who will prosecute the abuser,” the group wrote on Facebook. “We are in absolute disbelief that they have chosen not to prosecute.”

Anticipating the backlash, Worthy shared a lengthy statement about “the passion of animal lovers” along with her June 27 announcement.

“We understand that there will be many who will be very displeased with our decision to deny charges today,” she wrote in part. “These will be some of the same people who disparaged us for taking our time to do a complete investigation. But what is right is right. What is just is just. Sometimes our charging decisions will upset others. But ultimately, we must charge what we can prove.”

“We must be able to prove who did this horrible injustice,” Worthy concluded, “and we cannot do that in this case.”