Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 18, 1995                   TAG: 9503200028
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

FAMILY OFFERS REWARD TO FIND DOG'S KILLER

His owners say he was a mannerly cocker spaniel who didn't bark and who rested quietly in his dog house when the sun went down. They say they kept him leashed or in the house.

That's why it's hard for Lisa Collins and her children and friends to make sense of why someone would have come into her yard in Cambria, taped the dog's mouth shut and then beat it to death.

"It's something we're having a hard time understanding. It had always been a quiet dog," said Officer Derek Altizer of the Christiansburg Police, who investigated the incident.

"It's rough seeing somebody do something to a defenseless animal, and we're going to do everything we can to find them."

But so far the police have no leads.

When Collins and her 13-year-old daughter went to Raleigh, N.C., Sunday morning for a dance recital, Rockie was doing fine in the back yard. They returned at about 1:30 Monday morning and went to bed.

At about 10 a.m. Monday, Collins went out to feed Rockie and found his bloody body. Neighbors told police they heard the dog barking around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, something that was unusual for the year-old dog.

Collins said she has had no problems with her neighbors, and her sister, Dreama Karr, said the entire neighborhood has been shaken. Residents have told Karr that another dog was killed in a similar manner about three years ago.

"He was a quiet dog. He wasn't a nuisance. He was always leashed," Collins said.

Collins said she "felt real at peace" when she moved into her house last August, a house she shares with her brother and his son.

"We feel very violated now," she said.

Adding to her woes has been a threatening phone call Collins received Thursday night, after putting up fliers around Christiansburg announcing a $500 reward for information.

Anyone who knows anything about the crime can call the Christiansburg Police Department.