New initiative launched in honour of beloved dog found dead inside stolen car
The death of Queensland German Shepherd Arnie in a stolen vehicle has inspired a new platform to protect pets caught up in criminal acts.
A community information-sharing platform has been established in honour of a Queensland family’s German Shepherd who tragically died after the car it was resting in was stolen.
Arnie, a seven-year-old German Shepherd, was found dead inside his family’s Toyota HiLux when it was located in Fortitude Valley a week after it was reported stolen.
Police worked around the clock following all lines of inquiry to locate both Arnie and the stolen ute.
The dog’s distraught family had also been frantically looking for the beloved animal, with the search drawing widespread attention around the state including from social media users and news outlets.
The vehicle was found by a member of the public on Friday, with Arnie discovered dead inside.
Neighbourhood Crime Watchers (NCW), an organisation that helped coordinate community searches for Arnie, has now launched a new platform to share information about missing animals in honour of the dog.
Named A.R.N.I.E - Animal Registry Neighbourhood Intelligence Exchange - it hopes to prevent the same tragic outcome occurring to other animals impacted by crime.
“A new initiative, A.R.N.I.E will now be added to the NCW website, one built specifically to address the very real issue exposed by this tragedy,” NCW founder Damion Douglass said.
The platform will be public and “designed so that information regarding animals caught up in mindless crime, have a voice.”
Mr Douglass coordinated with the family and volunteers to help search for Arnie. He said: “There is no way to adequately describe the anger and disappointment we feel at this outcome.”
“Not only learning that Arnie’s life was taken in a cruel and pointless manner, but listening to a heartbroken father and husband who then had to deliver that devastating news to his family.
“Nathan spent days, nights, hours upon hours barely resting, constantly updating the community, chasing every single lead, even while the entire nation was behind him. And despite all of that, he still couldn’t find his vehicle or his best mate.”
Separately, a change.org petition with more than 30,000 signatures has been launched and aims to make causing the death of a pet a specific criminal offence.
“Arnie’s death has shown a serious gap in Queensland’s laws protecting pets,” the petition says.
“While current laws recognise animal cruelty, they don’t fully cover situations like this, where a pet is killed during the commission of another crime.”
Arnie’s owner Nathan had been visiting a friend when his black Toyota HiLux was stolen between 1.30am and 5am on Saturday, November 8. Arnie had been resting in the back of the ute as he didn’t get along with a dog at that home.
Detective Senior Sergeant Christopher Lafferty said the discovery of the deceased dog on Friday, November 14 was devastating for investigators.
“We hadn’t given up hope of finding Arnie and being able to reunite him with his family,” Sergeant Lafferty said.
“Investigators are devastated by this discovery and our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time.
“Officers remain committed to finding justice for Arnie and his family and will continue to investigate any report to identify and locate the offender.”
The family shared their grief on Facebook, thanking the public for their support over the past week.
“We sincerely want to thank everyone for all your help over the past week in the search for our boy Arnie,” the post read.
“Unfortunately there isn’t a better outcome and Arnie was found yesterday deceased, still in the back of the Ute that was stolen.
“We are beyond devastated, he didn’t deserve to go like this. We had the best life with him and he is going to be so missed.”
Police are continuing to urge anyone with information or dashcam and CCTV footage that has not yet been reported to come forward.
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Originally published as New initiative launched in honour of beloved dog found dead inside stolen car
