ACS investigates photo of headless dog

23 January 2010

By Brian Chasnoff

Anonymous Internet users of the inflammatory sort, otherwise known as “trolls,” are descending upon and disseminating a photograph that appears to depict someone displaying the bloody, severed head of a dog.

Prodded by a rumor that the dog decapitators are San Antonio youths, the Police Department and Animal Care Services are investigating the photograph, ACS spokeswoman Lisa Norwood said.

“We still don't know that any laws were broken,” Norwood said. “Photoshop can do wonders.”

Norwood said she couldn't provide any details of the investigation because it's ongoing.

But she acknowledged rumors — some outlandish — that are echoing across chat rooms and Web sites of questionable taste with regard to the troubling photograph.

Among them: The Alamo City teenagers are embroiled in a bizarre role-playing game that emulates “Twilight,” a series of novels and films that depicts vampires and werewolves in battle, and the youths deem the headless dog a vanquished werewolf.

“There are references to ‘Twilight,' among other things,” Norwood said. “I don't know if you're familiar with the ‘Twilight' series, but it certainly doesn't espouse animal cruelty.”

She also warned the alleged crime could be just as fictional as the popular series.

“The Internet is a big, wide world,” Norwood said, “and it can often be rife with innuendo, allegations and outright hoax.”

http://www.mysanantonio.com/pets/82466817.html
(Submitted by Caty Bergman)