Guinea Pig Arson Leaves Five-Year-Old Owner ‘Shaken And Sad’
A five-year-old boy was devastated when he woke up on Wednesday morning to find an arsonist torched the hutch that his beloved pet guinea pigs lived in.
The arsonist, described as “sick and evil,” set fire to the hutch overnight. The five-year-old boy, Cody Buckley, is completely devastated that his beloved guinea pigs were murdered by an unknown arsonist. The incident occurred in St. Budeauz in Devon, according to Metro.
Jake’s mother, Amy Sherwood, heard a loud bang in the early morning hours of Wednesday. As she raised herself out of bed to investigate, the hurried sounds of fire engines drew closer as they approached to put the fire out. By the time she reached the window to see what was happening outside, the fire fighters were already extinguishing the blaze.
“I looked out of the bedroom window and saw them putting out the fire.”
Once the fire was extinguished, there was hope that the beloved pet guinea pigs, Arna and Jake, had escaped the blaze and would be found nearby. During the search, one of the guinea pigs was found dead. The other has not yet been found.
Boy, 5, ‘devastated’ by Plymouth guinea pig arson – https://t.co/4WUDfUHI9K can anyone help catch these sickos for the little boys peace
— Darill Hudson (@darill1066) August 20, 2016
Cody’s mom prepared to tell him about the arson when he woke in the morning. She was not sure how to tell him the news, but knew she had to. She lives in the home with Cody and her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law suffers from Alzheimer’s.
When she told Cody of the arson, he was devastated at the loss of his beloved guinea pigs, according to BBC News.
“When I told my little boy what happened, he said it was the worst day of his life and asked why anyone would do that to him,”
The guinea pig hutch was completely destroyed by the fire and will need to be rebuilt if the family chooses to adopt more guinea pigs in the future. In the meantime, the family will stick with their fish until Cody is ready for another pet.
Sherwood is grateful a neighbor noticed the fire and called the authorities to extinguish it. It is unknown whether the fire would have spread to the houses if not put out in time.
Another neighbor has closed captioned TV footage of the area and was able to record the incident in progress. Unfortunately, it only showed a lighter being ignited and the blaze consuming the guinea pig hutch. Police are looking into the incident in hopes of apprehending the arsonist. Investigators described the incident as a “horrific crime,” not only because of the distress it caused to the family, but also at the nature of the target.
“There is absolutely no excuse for animal cruelty, and we are working hard to identify those responsible,”
Boy, 5, ‘devastated’ by Plymouth guinea pig arsonhttps://t.co/Qu1a8dW79y @BBCNews pic.twitter.com/FwE7OiTLNu
— Animal_Watch (@Animal_Watch) August 20, 2016
Sherwood claims they have no enemies or issues with others that would coerce someone to kill their beloved pet guinea pigs in such a horrific manner. She is not sure why they were a target. However, she is more concerned at what the arsonist might do elsewhere.
“I’m appalled. Why would anyone want to do this? We haven’t done anything to upset anybody. If they can do this, what on earth else can they do?”
Authorities are taking the incident seriously and hope to apprehend the suspect soon before more pets can be harmed at his or her hands. Although there are no leads at this time, they hope the public has seen something that will give them some clues.
[Photo Via: Photo Fun/Shutterstock]
