Pit Bull Finds New Home After Owner's Murder

Photo of Zeus, an American Staffordshire terrier mix, courtesy of  The New York Times

Imagine men entering your upstairs apartment with murderous intent-they somehow manage to lock your faithful dog in the bathroom, before lashing you to a chair and beating you to death. That's unfortunately what happened to the late Gene Lewis last month in Brooklyn, N.Y. When police arrived at the crime scene, they took Lewis' dog, Zeus, to a Manhattan shelter, where the intake staff described him as upset, "unsure and uncomfortable."

Luckily (if anything can be construed as lucky in this scenario), one of Lewis' friends read about his murder and tracked down his beloved dog in the shelter. By the time she called, "Zeus was not doing well-'he was in an isolated distress room...his pupils were dilated and he was barking like crazy." Although she wanted to adopt him right away, she was told that he could only be released to next of kin. When Lewis' father finally arrived to deal with the aftermath of his son's murder, he picked up Zeus and promptly gave him to his son's friend. According to this recent article in the New York Times, Zeus is now doing fine.

Wow-what a story! But why we're amazed (and grateful), is that in a city brimming with news, The Times saw fit to write about this one dog's traumatic road to a second chance.

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