In Columbia, South Carolina, 65-year old Mariam Smith admitted to killing her nephew's female dog by hanging the pit bull on a tree with an electrical cord and then burning its body. The reason behind his gruesome act was that the dog chewed on her Bible, and she thought it was a "devil dog" that would be dangerous to the neighborhood. She is charged with felony of animal cruelty and may face from 180 days to five years in prison if convicted. Sadly, authorities found the dead dog with part of an electrical cord still around its neck.
My thoughts: I'm not sure if the dog is the "devil" or if she is. Although there is not enough information on the temperament of the dog, I would think that measures would have been earlier by the owners or community if the dog had shown an aggressive or dangerous personality. Furthermore, she based her heinous actions on a superstitious thought-- all dogs like to chew on items that they can get a hold of or get away with, and this particular pit bull happened to chew on a religious book. If it had been any other object like a novel book or slipper, would the dog have been condemned to being hung and burned to death?
