By Vince Lovato, Editor
(Editor’s note: The language in this story could be disturbing to some readers.)
SEELEY LAKE -- Many locals here believe a animal torturer is in their midst.
For the second time in as many months, a dog was captured and tortured in a heartless and maniacal manner.
Unlike Lucky, the previous victim of animal cruelty, Bam Bam did not survive.
As of Oct. 1, Bam Bam, a 3-year-old, 120-pound playful Rottweiler, was living a rewarding life with human family and friends, owner Jean Loesch said.
On that day, Bam Bam disappeared during a hike with a family friend in the Double Arrow area when she wondered off the trail.
Despite, looking desperately, her friends and family could not locate her.
“When was called her, she always came back to us,” said Loesch, a 30-year Seeley Lake resident. “But when we went out looking for her there was no response. I had a weird feeing.”
Loesch was well aware of Lucky’s story. She was captured and psychopathically tortured just weeks before.
“There are strange things going on in Seeley,” she said. “But I didn’t think anybody could do that to an animal.”
And when the criminals did to Bam Bam was hard to fathom for anybody.
A sheriff’s detective told Loesch perpetrator or perpetrators shot Bam Bam, paralyzing her, before beating her face, breaking both front paws and running her over with a vehicle at least once and probably twice then dumped her lifeless body into a ditch near Salmon Lake.
Having to grieve the unimaginable crime herself, Loesch then had to explain the horrors to her four adopted children.
“She protected those kids. She was playful,” Loesch said. “She had two litters and she was a great mom.”
She is offering a $400 reward to anyone who can provide information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the criminals. Loesch can be contacted at 406-240-3094.
A pair of local men discovered Bam Bam’s body less than a day after she was killed and they called.
Missoula County Sheriff’s Deputy Heath Hanson responded to the call and launched an investigation.
In the aftermath of these two animal abuse incidents, some Seeley Lake residents have discussed retaliating against the perpetrators once they are identified while some residents fear that anyone who reveals knowledge of the case might be accused of the crimes or waylaid by the accused.
Some also wonder what crimes could be filed against those who victimized Lucky and Bam Bam.
In 2019, then-President Donald Trump signed the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act (PACT) into law in attempt to crack down on a rash of social media videos in which animals are tortured and/or killed, interstate animal-based crime rings,
Under the law, a person can be changed with a federal felony if they’re found torturing animals. This includes crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, and impaling, or if the crime involves 10 or more animals.
Under the act, those convicted face a federal felony punishable by fines and up to seven years in prison, according to language in the act.
Montana has similar laws.
In September, the Pathfinder reported on a dog named Lucky who was captured and hung by a rope around his snout. In his case, he was discovered in time to get nursed back to health.
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