Victim in dog killing case speaks out

ATTICA, Ind. (WLFI)` - A woman whose three pets were killed said she wants justice.

"They took the lives of innocent puppies. There's no excuse for that," said 19-year-old Chelsea Snoeberger.

The Attica Volunteer Fire Department pulled the bodies of an adult male pit bull and two terrier-mix puppies from a backyard drainage ditch Saturday night. The victim of the crime, Chelsea Snoeberger, said she just wants to know why.

"You couldn't look at those puppies and not fall in love with them," she said. "And they took them from me."

Chelsea Snoeberger returned to her Attica home at 203 North Perry Street Saturday, only to find the house had been broken into and her three dogs were dead. Then she realized she had seen someone she knew in the area at the time.

"He had lived with us before, and so he had gotten angry with us because we all were in the process of moving out," Chelsea Snoeberger said.

Attica Police Chief Gene Snoeberger alleged that 18-year-old Christopher Bartlow and 18-year-old Theodore Robinson stabbed the dogs several times. Gene Snoeberger said the two later admitted to dragging the three animals out the home's side door, through the backyard and over the fence into a drainage ditch. Gene Snoeberger said the pair then tried to cover their tracks.

"They also used some newspapers to try to start a fire," Chief Snoeberger said. "The fire that they did start was small and just burned a very, very small area and extinguished itself."

After News Channel 18 first reported this story, some viewers commented that because Chelsea Snoeberger is Gene Snoeberger's daughter, she was receiving preferential treatment. We asked the chief what he thought about those allegations.

"As a result of those concerns, I've contacted Indiana State Police and asked that they review this investigation. And any further follow up that needs to be done, we'll have them conduct that also," he said.

Gene Snoeberger said Bartlow and Robinson also stole two rings and a cell phone from the home. The two men were each arrested for burglary, theft, arson and killing a dog.

Official charges have not yet been filed in this case, but Chief Snoeberger said the prosecutor will likely file them on Wednesday.

Killing a dog falls under animal cruelty law. It was just made a Class D felony about a year ago.