This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

Imagine the joyous experience of a dog being adopted from a shelter, only to be betrayed and brutally killed just days later by the people who took them home. That was tragically the case for Deron, a dog who was maliciously killed by his adopters in Indianapolis, Indiana. Urge the prosecutor to seek maximum penalties in this case.

On July 28, 2022, Deron was adopted from Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) by Zech Thomsen, who was accompanied by three friends. On August 6, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department received a dispatch that a dog had been strung up by the neck and was bleeding on the porch of a house while surrounded by four people.

The calls were about Deron's brutal execution. Witnesses reported Thomsen was holding a knife while Deron was hanging from a leash and bleeding while the others watched. Deron was stabbed while hanging, and a trash bag was put over his head until he stopped moving. He was then thrown out in a trash can like garbage, which is where police found his body along with a bloody steak knife after arriving at the home.

Thomsen and Sienna Makin were arrested that day. Thomsen was charged with animal torture, the battery of a public safety official, obstruction of justice, and resisting law enforcement. Makin was charged with injuring a public safety officer after she punched and bit an officer while trying to escape, obstruction of justice, and resisting law enforcement.

The two other associates, Clifford Massey and Denita Hughes were also later arrested, thanks to a Ring doorbell that captured video evidence of their involvement. Massey has been charged with animal cruelty and obstruction of justice, and Hughes with obstruction of justice.

Massey had also adopted a dog, King, on the same day Deron was adopted, who went missing the day Massey was arrested, but was found and thankfully is now safe.

In Indiana, animal torture is a level 6 felony, which is the lowest level felony with a maximum jail time of 2.5 years.

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.