L.A. Filmmakers to Produce New Documentary About Puppy Doe

Remember Puppy Doe (a.k.a Kiya) who was subjected to horrific medieval-style torture in Quincy, Mass., in the fall of last year? The scale of her abuse was so great that it provoked a national outcry, with Mary Nee, president of the Animal Rescue League, telling the Boston Magazine that “words cannot describe the shocking suffering that Puppy Doe endured.”

This beautiful dog was burnt, brutally beaten, had her limbs pulled apart in a barbaric medieval–style ritual, and was ultimately left for dead in a Quincy park. Sadly, she had to be euthanized because the scale of her injuries were so great. The dog’s abuser, Radoslaw Artur Czerkawski, was arraigned on 11 counts of animal cruelty and charges of misleading a police investigation. He may face up to five years in prison for each of the 11 animal cruelty charges, but more details will become available as he comes up for trial starting with a pre-trial conference on Feb. 11.

In the mean time, a group of Los Angeles–based filmmakers are working on “Puppy Doe: A Documentary,” in an effort to raise awareness about her case and explore the effectiveness of current animal abuse laws in the U.S.

The documentary will be directed by Paulina Kucharski Quaranta, a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, and produced by Elizabeth Lawrence. It is set to include interviews with police investigators, protesters, and animal rights activists.

On their Facebook page, the filmmakers have called for an end to BSL (breed-specific legislation), which they say “targets the wrong end of the leash” by demonizing individual breeds such as pit bulls, rather than addressing the problems of poor guardianship and training that can cause these animals to behave aggressively, and have also advocated the establishment of a nationwide animal abuse registry, similar to the one that was established in NYC at the end of last year.

Keep an eye on the documentary’s website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed for more news about when it will be officially released. In the meantime, here is one simple action you can take today to honor the memory of Puppy Doe: because Czerkawski acquired her via Craigslist, a petition has been started on Change.org calling for “free to a good home” advertisements on this site to be banned. Sign and share this petition far and wide.