Austell Immigrant Activist Says Dog's Death Is a Hate Crime

Richard Pellegrino, the Austell resident who heads up the Cobb Immigrant Alliance, said he and his family may be victims of a hate crime.

On July 3 around 9:30 a.m., Pellegrino said his family let out Chuckey, his 2-year-old granddaughter's dog that the family had been keeping, as they usually did.

At around 1 p.m., Pellegrino's 10-year-old daughter found the Yorkshire Terrier dead on the family's front step.

"She came running. She was crying, hysterical," Pellegrino said.

He said he was suspicious because the dog was lying perfectly on their front step and because his wife's shoe, which was further away, was filled with blood.

Cobb Police told South Cobb Patch that Cobb Animal Control had a veterinarian perform a necropsy, which showed that the small dog died as a result of "blunt force trauma."

Pellegrino said that "only can be a hate crime...This is an example of what type of actions can take place when an environment of hate is fostered with this type of rhetoric that's out there against immigrants, and by extension, anyone who defends them," Pellegrino told South Cobb Patch.

The case continues to be investigated by Precinct 2 detectives.

Pellegrino did say that a neighbor had recently kicked another neighbor's dog after an altercation, but does not believe that to have any connection to his family dog's death.