Help a Kidnapped Dog in Philadelphia!
On October 31st, Bill Whiting's worst nightmare came true. His little brown dog Edna went missing. Ten days later he received a phone call from kidnappers (2 boys, claiming to be age 16 and 9) who said they had Edna. He could hear Edna crying in the background as they were hurting the dog. Five hours later the kidnappers called back and said they killed Whiting's dog.
Whiting called the Philadelphia Police and Verizon so the phone numbers could be provided to the detectives to see who made those calls. The information was finally released by Verizon, 12 days after (as reported by Philadelphia Daily News) the Philadelphia Police warrant was received on November 16. Verizon also charged the City of Philadelphia $150 for the information.
Still Bill Whiting has no idea if his Edna is alive or dead.
UPDATE 1/4/08: Police arrested a juvenile male in connection with Edna's disapperance. The suspect bragged about the incident, but authories do not know if he actually had Edna. The juvenille will receive a trial date on January 31. For full article in the Philadelphia Daily News: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/stu_bykofsky/20080104_Stu_Bykofsky___Teen_charged___facing_trial_in_cruel_dog-extortion_case.html
Important: Tell Verizon that critical information should be provided faster and free of charge for kidnapping situations! Tell Verizon it should streamline its coordination with the Philadelphia Police Department and any other law enforcement so delays in providing information will not happen again.
Tell the Mayor of Philadelphia you want action taken to help Bill Whiting and that you are fed up with the violence of this City, against people, our police, and now our pets!
***Please check the following link in the near future for information on the trial.
Bill and Edna's story can be found at:
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/11909697.html
http://southphillyreview.com/view_article.php?id=6340
http://network.bestfriends.org/pennsylvania/news/20944.html
UPDATE: Verizon recently responded to the Philadelphia Daily News (12/4/07) in Letters and blames part of the delay on the Philadelphia Police. However, it seems unreasonable that a name and phone number of the person who called Bill Whiting could not have been provided quicker without all the back and forth between Verizon and the Philadelphia Police. Verizon claims the information requested by the Philadelphia Police was beyond what they maintain in their normal course of business. Bill Whiting contacted Verizon the same day he contacted police (November 11) but got the run-around from employees.
Note: Photo of Bill and Edna posted with permission of Philadelphia Daily News
On October 31st, Bill Whiting's worst nightmare came true. His little brown dog Edna went missing. Ten days later he received a phone call from kidnappers (2 boys, claiming to be age 16 and 9) who said they had Edna. He could hear Edna crying in the background as they were hurting the dog. Five hours later the kidnappers called back and said they killed Whiting's dog.
Whiting called the Philadelphia Police and Verizon so the phone numbers could be provided to the detectives to see who made those calls. The information was finally released by Verizon, 12 days after (as reported by Philadelphia Daily News) the Philadelphia Police warrant was received on November 16. Verizon also charged the City of Philadelphia $150 for the information.
Still Bill Whiting has no idea if his Edna is alive or dead.
UPDATE 1/4/08: Police arrested a juvenile male in connection with Edna's disapperance. The suspect bragged about the incident, but authories do not know if he actually had Edna. The juvenille will receive a trial date on January 31. For full article in the Philadelphia Daily News: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/stu_bykofsky/20080104_Stu_Bykofsky___Teen_charged___facing_trial_in_cruel_dog-extortion_case.html
Important: Tell Verizon that critical information should be provided faster and free of charge for kidnapping situations! Tell Verizon it should streamline its coordination with the Philadelphia Police Department and any other law enforcement so delays in providing information will not happen again.
Tell the Mayor of Philadelphia you want action taken to help Bill Whiting and that you are fed up with the violence of this City, against people, our police, and now our pets!
***Please check the following link in the near future for information on the trial.
Bill and Edna's story can be found at:
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/11909697.html
http://southphillyreview.com/view_article.php?id=6340
http://network.bestfriends.org/pennsylvania/news/20944.html
UPDATE: Verizon recently responded to the Philadelphia Daily News (12/4/07) in Letters and blames part of the delay on the Philadelphia Police. However, it seems unreasonable that a name and phone number of the person who called Bill Whiting could not have been provided quicker without all the back and forth between Verizon and the Philadelphia Police. Verizon claims the information requested by the Philadelphia Police was beyond what they maintain in their normal course of business. Bill Whiting contacted Verizon the same day he contacted police (November 11) but got the run-around from employees.
Note: Photo of Bill and Edna posted with permission of Philadelphia Daily News
We the undersigned feel Verizon should have provided information to the Philadelphia Police Department in a timely manner. This information was critical and if it was provided faster it may have helped Bill Whiting save his dog, Edna from kidnappers and possibly a painful death. Verizon should screen out requests where "time is of the essence" as priority, especially in kidnapping situations. No charges should be accompanied with the information requested in these types of situations. Verizon should streamline its coordination with the Philadelphia Police Department and any other law enforcement so delays in providing information will not happen again.
We the undersigned want the Mayor of Philadelphia to take action to help Bill Whiting's case. The good citizens of Philadelphia are tired of living in such a violent city where there is no respect for life, human or otherwise. Our children, pets, and police will not be safe on our streets until the violence is reduced.
Please help Bill Whiting's case so he may find his dog Edna.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.
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This is horrible! My heart goes out to Bill and Edna, and I cannot believe the actions of Verizon. It's a good thing I patronize someone else, b/c they would have just lost a customer.
This is such a sad story, especially for the fact that if the police had gotten the phone records sooner, a happy ending may have been possible. I feel so bad for Bill and his loss. I love that little dog without even meeting her. Please help.
Shame on you Verizon!
I wonder how the Verizon corp. would have acted if this was one of thier own!! It is unconscionable, and morally UNACCEPTABLE! Verizon, where is your humanity?! Any criminal offense should be treated seriously and with quick response, and the company should WILLINGLY streamline efforts to help law enforcement. Money should not be the bottom line when it comes to life! I hope and pray Bill Whiting receives a miracle, and is reunited with his sweet dog Edna. I also hope the juveniles suffer for the rest of their lives for this horrible act.
I've never been a fan of Verizon and this incident adds just another example to a long list of examples that make me want to change my cell phone service to anyone else but them. Oct 2009 can't come soon enough. I am sorry for your loss
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Shame on Verizon - thankfully, I don't get my cell phone service through them. A crime investigation, whether it is against animals or humans, should be something that all citizens and businesses willingly cooperate in. As I understood the story, Verizon could care less if the victim was human, furry, feathered or scaly - they drag their feet in such situations, don't cooperate with police and BILL the police/city on top of that. How repulsively GREEDY and criminal. I hope Verizon goes under.
This is inexcusable. Please do not enable this kind of cruelty!
I could not believe what I read. What will these children be capable of when they get older. I have Verizon services at my home, and I am very disappointed, that the Police were not given the infomation immediatly, to catch these delinquents. I hope in the future this will not happen again. Respectfully, Dolores G. Griffenberg
These 2 teenagers are sick!! imagine what the'll do in another 5 yrs! Maybe kidnap babies next? and try to get ransom ?? STOP THEM NOW!!!!
How horrible. I am a former Verizon employee and it DOESN'T take that long to pull up an account and view the unbilled calls. If a warrant is provided the informantion should be released instantly.
Although I am from Washington State I followed this story for several months. I even went so far as to write a letter to the grieving Mr. Whiting. There is no excuse for Verizon to have taken so long to provide a number to the Philadelphia police. Had it been and "Amber" alert they would have had the number is seconds. I've spent many years in rescue and have witnessed many cases of abuse and neglect. One of the problems is authorities ususally have the attitude that "it's just an animal". Until this way of thinking stops these heinous crimes will continue to be committed by these sick individuals. Only when the laws are enforced and punishment is swift and severe will they be taken seriously. We already know these individuals will move from torturing and killing animals to torturing and killing human beings. Why must we let it go that far? I hope they caught all the boys involved in this crime and they find out what happened to poor Edna. I hope they are sentenced to the maximum and required to go to therapy for many years to come. My heart goes out to Mr. Whiting and to Edna.
I wonder if the information is provided more quickly if the victim is human. It shouldn't matter.
please go to www.myspace.com/fight4aright and add them to help support animals rights.
When I read this initially, it made me physically ill!! Why would someone want to hurt this man's pet- pets are often like children to us- and that this kind of thing happens in "civilized" society is terrifying. I am sorry about your dog- I hope she comes home after all.
The time for blame is over, now justice needs to be served. Juveniles who can take such delight out of inflicting physical or mental cruelty on either animals or humans are the serial killers of tomorrow. Why not stop them now, before they have the opportunity to select their next victim.
This is insane Verizon should be ashamed they could have saved a life whether it be a dog or human. You should react immediately. Stop the blame!
Good luck in obtaining some little measure of justice!
Please support this petition!! You would if it were your dog. Our animals are like our kids and we would go just as far for them as if they were our children.
Dear Philadelphia Police and affiliated agencies: This is a most disgusting tale which is becoming more pervasive in our society. The safety of our pets is valuable and violators should be persecuted, hopefully in the same manner in which their crime was committed. These human beings do not deserve the same privileges as the good citizens of the world as they have proven themselves lacking in humanity. Please let these criminals know that this type of crime against fellow human beings and our pets will receive a punishment befitting their reprehensible actions. Thank you, Jan Hadland
This is appalling; these children have no respect for life. They'll probably turn out to be homicidal maniacs if their crime is gone unrecognized and not treated as it appears; a crime towards humanity as a whole. Why should an animal’s life be of less regard then their human counterparts? If this was a homicide, the police and news media would have been all over it the minute it happened. Nevertheless, Verizon offers the web, music, tv, videos, & blue tooth technology, yet it takes 12 days to trace a call from a desperate, paying customer......sorry Verizon that this story was not important enough to give you the publicity you feel you already need......it's a disgrace......"can yah here me now?!"
I not only think Verizon should release information relating to animal kidnappings and that the Mayor should take action to help Bill Whiting, but I think the Mayor should think hard about a law that respects the rights and feelings of all animals! After all, we are supposed to be the city of brotherly love - is he saying that doesn't include animals!
