Yellowknife pug's death traumatizes owner

A Yellowknife woman said she's coming to terms with the loss of her pet pug, who was found stabbed to death last week.

Vanessa Baron said she does not understand why someone would kill Garlic, her 1½-year-old pug, on Thursday night.

Baron said she had left had the dog in her car, with the engine running and the passenger's side door unlocked, while she stopped briefly at Twist Resto-Lounge in downtown Yellowknife. Garlic was gone when she came back, she said.

"The first thing that little Garlic would do, if somebody opened up the door of my vehicle, would be to jump across the seat, put his paws up on him and give him a kiss on the face," Baron told CBC News on Monday.

Lloyd Brandon Thrasher, a 23-year-old musician, has been charged with killing or injuring an animal, theft under $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime. RCMP said a number of vehicles had been broken into on Thursday night.

Thrasher made brief court appearances on Monday and Tuesday, but his case has been adjourned to Wednesday.

Baron said RCMP found Garlic in a dumpster after she reported him missing. An autopsy that was conducted at the Great Slave Animal Hospital revealed that the dog had been stabbed.

"He received blows to the side of his ribs. I don't know if that was one strong blow or repeated blows," she said. "He received trauma to his side and his lungs collapsed as a result of that trauma."

Baron said she does not know the accused very well. She said she cannot think of a possible motive behind what happened, and she hopes whoever is responsible for Garlic's death gets some kind of help.

Yellowknife RCMP are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact them or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

"Garlic had a lot of homies, you know, and I was always bringing him over to people's houses," Baron said. "There's a lot of people that made his life pretty wonderful."