Puppy Doe Trial: Large Crowd, Protests Expected

QUINCY, MA — A large crowd of protestors could be in front of Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham Tuesday morning when the long-delayed Puppy Doe case heads to trial. Jury selection in the case against Radoslaw Czerkawski, accused of purchasing and torturing a dog before dumping it in a playground, begins at 9 a.m.

Anyone carrying signs and placards or making statements about Czerkawski and his case will have to remain 500 feet away from the courthouse during the trial. No one inside the courtroom will be allowed to wear any buttons, shirts, or insignia related to the defendant and the case. Demonstrators have often appeared in front of the courthouse when Czerkawski comes for a hearing.

Czerkawski faces multiple counts of animal abuse after he allegedly bought a pit bull on Craigslist in July 2013 and tortured it for its few remaining days. The dog was found near a playground in Aug. 2013 and had to be euthanized due to its injuries.

Following a two-month investigation, police identified Czerkawski, who at the time was living in the Quincy home of a woman he was taking care of, as the owner of the dog. He was taken into custody at a hotel in New Britain, Conn.

Since the arrest, Czerkawski was sentenced to three to five years in prison for stealing $130,000 from the elderly woman he was hired to take care of and another three to five years for taking $4,500 from St. Lawrence Martyr Parish in New Bedford, where he had stayed for several months in 2012.

The start of the trial follows several delays dating back to last summer.

Image via Animal Rescue League