News & Views

This is not the dog described in the story.We unfortunately live in a world where hearing about men beating their wives or girlfriends is very common. We also unfortunately hear about people abusing animals almost every day. But rarely do these two horrific events dovetail into one beyond-cruel and horrific incident. Little Pomeranian pooch Murphy was only trying to protect his owner from a beating when he ran to the side of Andrea Jill Armantrout, who was cowering on the floor as her boyfriend, Emmanuel Alfredo Tadeo, allegedly kicked and hit her.

So Tadeo turned his violence on the tiny Pom, beating him. Andrea then begged Tadeo to allow her to take the injured dog to the vet, but Tadeo wouldn't let her. In fact, he decided to become even more despicable.

Tadeo reportedly took the pooch outside and broke his neck, killing him. But it gets worse. He then brought the puppy's dead body back inside and beat his girlfriend with her pet's dead body.

Seriously, I don't know how you get any more horrific, cowardly, and disgusting than this creep. Tadeo was arrested on multiple counts of assault and animal cruelty and could spend up to 20 years in prison. Animal cruelty laws are not that tough, but beating up his girlfriend could at least get him some good time behind bars, and hopefully the judge will give him the max when the animal cruelty is taken into consideration.

Unfortunately, it will be up to the legal system to defend little Murphy in death, because Armantrout, either out of fear or some sort of twisted sense of loyalty to her abusive boyfriend, has stopped cooperating with police in the case against him. She was then arrested for "obstruction of justice" and is out on bail.

The mind of a woman who has been beaten for years -- shocker, this is not the first time Tadeo has abused his girlfriend -- is so cloudy with terror, so foggy with self-loathing, and so inflamed with co-dependency, that it's not entirely surprising that Armantrout isn't defending little Murphy in death the way the pup tried to defend her in life. But hopefully the death of her pet will wake Armantrout up and make her turn her life, and her choice in men, around. I certainly hope she is not buying that he will "change." A man this cruel and deranged will not change. Even if he did become a saint, it's too late in my book.

Meanwhile, I hope Tadeo the disgusting dog killer and woman beater spends a very long time in prison and comes to know what it's like to feel helpless and maltreated.

Why do you think Armantrout stopped cooperating with police? Do you sympathize with her?

Image via Miss Karen/Flickr