BOUNTIFUL, UTAH – October 7, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) — A Bountiful family is offering a $1,000 reward for information after their beloved pet dog Jackson was severely beaten and possibly poisoned.
Jackson, an 11-year-old rottweiler, German shepherd mix, had to be put down following the attack.
On the evening of September 21, Nick Gilson and his wife returned home from a family dinner to celebrate his grandfather’s 91st birthday.
“My wife let the dogs out into the backyard around 5 p.m., and they were both fine,” he said. “When I returned around 9 p.m., just approaching them I could tell immediately that something was wrong with Jackson. His tail was in between his legs, he had his head down, and was just not acting himself. When I opened the gate to let them go inside, he was having obvious difficulty walking.
“The next day I took him to the vet, and they ran a number of tests on him to try and figure out what was wrong with him. After we ruled out common rat poison, we waited for the other test results. When they came in, they were consistent with brain trauma and significant muscle damage. His abdomen was very sore, so we are thinking that he was kicked and beaten about the head. For about a week he did very well and seemed to be recovering, but then took a turn for the worse.
“Running more blood tests and comparing those to the originals is what led us to theorize that a poison may have also been used…the changes in the results COULD be explained by a toxin being processed through his system. I emphasize could because from my understanding it is very difficult to test for specific poisons unless there is an undigested sample to compare against.
“We changed medications and treatments to try and bring him out of the downhill slide, but in the evening of October 3 it was apparent to my wife and I that he was in significant pain. It really wasn’t fair for us to keep him in this tortured state, and given his continued decline, we made the difficult choice to put him to sleep.”
Gilson contacted animal services and filed a police report. Davis County Animal Services and the Humane Society of Utah are both conducing investigations into the matter.
He said up to that point, he considered his neighborhood to be a safe one. “I think that generally speaking it probably still is,” he said. “As with any community, there are bound to be bad people from time to time, that unfortunately do bad things. The most unnerving thing to me is the unknown – not knowing for sure if this was a random attack, or targeted to me or my dog specifically is very frustrating.
“The other frustration I have is that until the perpetrator is identified and found, I do not feel safe leaving either my other dog, or my two-year-old in the yard unless they are very closely monitored the entire time. This is an extremely dangerous person, and all of the residents of the neighborhood should be concerned and motivated to have them identified.”
Gilson said his neighbors have been supportive, and he also shared Jackson’s story on Facebook, where it has been shared by more than 9,200 people.
“I’ve had literally hundreds of messages and friend requests from people I’ve never met,” he said. “So many people have inquired about helping to raise funds for the reward that I’ve set up a GoFundMe page, and several have already donated. It’s really been overwhelming to see the response from so many that don’t know me or Jackson, but are willing to help nonetheless. The reaction has really helped me to remain positive in spite of the terrible situation.
“I think that I share the goal of everyone in my community, both physical and online, which is to identify and have prosecuted the perpetrator of this heinous act. No animal deserves to be beaten in the way that Jackson was, and the fact that someone could do this so callously makes them a danger to animals and people moving forward.”
He said if they never find the person responsible, all the money will go to the Utah Humane Society.
Anyone with information about the crime should contact Bountiful Police Department at 801.298.6159 or Davis County Animal Services at 801.444.2200.
