Dog with legs and muzzle bound in rubber bands found in burning house

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Man arrested after dog found with muzzle and legs bound with rubber bands
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A 37-year-old man in Lompoc, California, was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after his dog, whose muzzle and legs were bound with rubber bands,  was discovered inside of a burning home. The Lompoc Police Department issued a release about the disturbing situation which was discovered on June 6 when firefighters responded to a structure fire.

According to the release, Edward Vantassel, owner of the dog named “Pooh,” was outside of the Crown Circle fire when firefighters arrived – Vantassel told the firefighters that his dog was still inside of the building, on the second floor.

The City of Lompoc recounted what was found inside of the residence:

Firefighters located the dog inside of an overturned weighted down box in a room on the second floor of the residence.  Firefighters also discovered the dog’s muzzle and rear legs had been bound with rubber bands.  Firefighters removed the dog from the residence and cut off the rubber bands.  They provided the dog with water and called animal control.  “Pooh” was transported to a local veterinarian where he was treated.

Firefighters alerted the police department to the troubling situation and an investigation was instigated. On June 13,  an arrest warrant was issued for Pooh’s owner Edward Vantassel.  On 6-14-2017 detectives arrested Edward Vantassel outside of the Animal Control building where he was at for a hearing on Pooh.

Vantassel is facing a felony animal cruelty charge – his bail was set at $100,000.  Edward Vantassel was transported to the Lompoc Police Department where he was interviewed and booked.  He was transported to the Santa Barbara County Jail.

Continue reading: Social media video showing dog being beaten leads to arrests – read the story here

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46 COMMENTS

    • Out of curiosity how does one LOOK like they will fit in in jail? Is it the brown skin of a minority, the blank stare of the mentally ill or is there some non discriminatory way a person can LOOK LIKE they belong in jail. I always thought it was tattoos particularly from the neck up but I don’t see any in his mug shot so I am curious. Don’t get me wrong I hope he is sentenced to jail (though unfortunately I doubt strongly he will be) but to say somehow his looks say he will fit in seems odd. Also FYI he won’t for in they had to move him to protective custody the first day because a group of Mexicans started to jump him for hurting Pooh and before that multiple men threatened sexual assault. Not usually something I would find amusing but in this case I found in hilarious.

  1. They should have thrown him back inside the building, if only for a few minutes, so he’d at the very least know EXACTLY how his dog felt.

    • Excellent idea – but tie his arms and legs first to ensure he is as helpless as he left Pooh – he is a total waste of flesh and blood – hope his stay in jail is long and he becomes a predatory favorite.

  2. His name should be POOH not his dogs. I am not shocked though by the extreme cruelty demonstrated by this man. What surprised me was that he is just as STUPID as he is cruel. He tells the firefighters his poor dog is trapped; did he think the fire would burn all of the evidence with this dog weighted down and crap. IGNORAMUS. Go under the jail you slob.

  3. What the hell? He muzzles and binds Pooh’s legs obviously had no regard for this dog and then decides to let firefighters know that Pooh was in the burning building! Thankful Pooh was saved!

  4. Hope he is convicted serves the MOST time possible, fined the most possible and then KARMA finds this punk and gives him the same treatment he gave his poor animal.
    Prayers to this poor Pooh.

    • I doubt that will ever happen even after being tried and convicted for 7 felonies including brandishing a gun at police officers he didn’t serve time he just went to a mental facility

  5. $100,000 bail says this human waste has had many problems in the past. Being that he looks Asian, it’s a probability he was trying to BBQ the poor dog alive. A custom that’s been running rapid in Asian countries. Sounds pathetic but you just never know.

    • I agree Carlos. Been fighting the dog meat thing for a very long time. It is unbearable to think of the innocents that end up in the hands of these Cretins. teeny weenies, sickos and psychos. It is not custom. It only became popular 20 some odd years ago.

      • Did you miss the fancies himself part in my post I never defended him I said he didn’t eat dogs that is rebutting your racism with facts. I mentioned his other violations so people will hopefully be as out raged as I am. This sick bastard stalked me, attacked me, threatened all my male friends and after 90 days the Santa Barbara court refused to extend my restraining order. I was CERTAIN he would end up murdering me, he still might. I moved repeatedly yet he would show up at my work. I would find him waiting in my car if I forgot to lock it so you can take your judgement and stick it. Where are MY values seriously?? Where are yours? I can send you pictures of my 2 restraining orders against him it you would like. How exactly does my out rage that he does this stuff over and over again with out ANY consequences because he is a veteran and rich seems l am defending him.

      • Ginny, or whomever. Your tirade doesn’t make any sense. It didn’t do much for us when you first wrote. If you are so threatened and you know how this Vantassel is, offer to testify when it goes to court. You might also suggest insurance companies might check for arson. You bet i am part racist when it comes to animal cruelty.

    • You couldn’t be more wrong he bound the dog because he kept chewing things. He was trying to sell the dog profit not lill it. He is a hoarder that fancies himself a great entrepreneur. His grandmother was from the Philippines but I highly doubt he or his blond hair blue eyes father ever eat dog.

      • Ginny, You defend him but tell of his other violations? All the more reason for heavy duty charges. Pooh was abused to the max and this entrepreneur was doing it for money? Where are your values? Where is compassion? Where is decency? Hope you don’t have a dog if you think this guy needs defending.

      • Sounds like you two are very close. Do think this wonderful Philippino, animal abuser would bound his children when they start teething and chewing everything in site. Give home a call in jail and let us know what he says.

      • Oh and binding the dog’s legs prevent him from chewing?! Are you that dumb to believe his reasons for binding the dog’s muzzle and legs. You’ve got one loser of a friend.

  6. If that was how he was treating his dog, you have to wonder why he even told the firefighters the dog was in the building. It’s quite obvious that he didn’t care much for poor Pooh! I’m glad Pooh is safe. Now put this POS in jail for a long time where he belongs.

      • I can not fathom how you can imply let alone stated I was defending this POS! I posted his and his mother’s address to the person who said we should find him and beat him to death. My complaints that SB county had several opportunities to lock him up but didn’t is not defending him it is disgust. I said he doesn’t eat dogs how is that defending him. It is defending Asian Americans from racists grouping us with monsters like this.

  7. I apparently confused this site with the other site I was also commenting on Force change dot-com that is asking people to sign the petition to prosecute this guy to the fullest extent of the law. I State how he freely admits he did it. He was arrested for it on June 14th but released less than a week later. And how despite all of the crimes he has committed brandishing weapons at officers domestic violence, theft, abuse of the dog Pooh mail fraud piracy you name it he never goes to jail because of his family’s money and his status as a veteran. I have stated repeatedly how it sickens me that he would do this to any living creature. Just because I find it offensive that people are saying Asian Americans( I’m not even fully Asian) eat dogs is offensive does not mean I am defending this POS. On the other site I also complain that whatever he does he does not go to jail due to his schizophrenia. I am in no way defending him I was simply trying to explain the situation. He claims the dog knocked over a heater and started the fire and continued to try to run into the burning garage. He said to the police that the reason he bound the dogs feet were to make sure he could not run back into the burning garage and that he bound his mouth so he couldn’t bite through the rubber bands on his feet a second time. I know this because the police told me when I spoke to them about this case. Alan this person is not a friend it is a person I have been attacked by and gone to the police about I did not say I believe him I said why he told the firefighters where the dog was. And could you try not to attack me personally I am not defending him I am stating that the Santa Barbara County Courts have the opportunity over and over and over again to prevent this from happening but did nothing. It is just driving me crazy that everybody says he should stay in jail forever when he isn’t in jail. He spent less than a week in jail and they moved his trial to a special veterans court ensuring that it is not his third strike and that he will be able to Simply do treatment for a year and then have this expunged from his record. Perhaps it is because it is in text I am not my voice that you cannot hear the outrage. Yes I know him I know his entire family I worked with his two sisters and two brothers in laws and they are all awful. While he was in a mental institution his mom stole almost $200,000 from him his sister forged checks she and her husband both condone domestic violence as she has beat the crap out of him several times (she’s a kickboxing instructor) and said that if you love somebody you would never call the police on them for beating the s*** out of you and tried to evict me because I did call the police on him for attacking me twice within the first month of my pregnancy with his child. His other sister is such a drunk she’s had multiple lewd in publics including one for beind double-teamed by two black guys in the middle of State Street in Santa Barbara and I have seen her repeatedly hit her ex and the father of her child including in the balls repeatedly. And his last sister took the week he was in jail as an opportunity to steal hundreds of dollars from his bank account. Yes I was once close to this person but I tried to get him locked up repeatedly years ago. I tried talking to the police the VA his family the prosecutor anyone and everyone I could about his violent and psychotic ways but no one would listen to me so I find it Beyond offensive that you guys continuously say I am defending this POS. I know so much about this case because despite all of this California still will not sever his parental rights so I am forced against my will to see him. So I would really appreciate it if you all get off your high horses and stop judging me if the police and courts had listened to me years ago this could have easily been avoided. I love animals I became a vegetarian after reading Peter singers animal liberation my freshman year of college in 1999. I am so anti violent I have never been in a fight I have no it first so much as punched to person. Again I am not defending him I am clarifying the situation as I have a ton more facts than anyone else on this website even if I really wish I didn’t.

    • I’m confused about your comment of how you’re offended that people claim “Asians eat dog. Asians eat dog. Asians eat cat. Asians eat rat and anything that moves. You being what ever percent Asian that you say you are, know exactly what I’m talking about. And its only Asians who not only eat dog, cat and rat but skin, boil and blowtorch these dogs and cats alive. Because after all the meat is much tender when you beat, abuse and torture these animals for days before you blowtorch them alive. Isn’t that true? Go on YouTube and you’ll find hundreds of videos of exactly what I described. China, South Korea and Vietnam is the worst but also Indonesia, Laos and Philippines. You shouldn’t be offended but you should be ashamed of your Culture.

      • I said thinking a PART Asian AMERICAN from Santa Barbara with a Caucasian father committed this abuse to eat a dog is absurd. I do understand that in many poor Nations people turn to whatever they can to eat including dogs in Asia. He is neither poor nor from another country his grandmother came over on a World War II warship having hooked up with an American Soldier stationed there. And as I stated I became a vegetarian my freshman year of college after reading a Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation. Call me crazy but I don’t think anyone should be ashamed of their Heritage they should only be accountable for their actions not the actions of others. Also if you do research on the factory farming done here in the United States it is pretty atrocious as well. I do not condone the abuse of any animals whether it be for food, entainment, punishment or whatever. It doesn’t matter if the animal is cute, adorable and fuzzy, a cow or a chicken cruelty to anyone any living creature is wrong. Again Carlos at no point did I say Asians don’t eat cats or dogs I said the Van Tassel family does not they do a hell of a lot of awful things but they would not eat a dog they own millions of dollars in real estate and have fully assimilated the American culture well I would say they try at times to come off as Hispanic hanging out with mostly Hispanic friends and sometimes even faking an accent. In high school he even tried to join a completely Mexican gang with his best friend.

      • It was the assuming any american with a bit of Asian blood eats dogs I found racist. I’m fairly certain if you poll third generation Asian Americans very few if any have Bbqed a dog alive and eaten it. Especially if they don’t know a thing about the culture or languages. This Moron didn’t even know the Philippines was it’s own county he argued with me that it is a US Territory like Puerto Rico.

      • Yes Vicky you are correct my real name is not Jenny as I have had some very hostile people think because I know him I somehow approve of his behavior or like him as a person. I don’t know how you can possibly think I have not spoken to the police regarding this matter I spoke to the Lompoc police for over two hours on June 14th the very day he was arrested. We discussed it all the dog abuse, his past Behavior towards animals, his previous felonies, my questions regarding whether or not he intentionally set the fire, his threats towards the men in my life, the multiple times he attacked me, my inability to get a restraining order, his being psychotic. This is being investigated as an arson. I really don’t know what more you guys think I could have done. I spoke with multiple police officers multiple times I am not the prosecutor I am not the one who decided to put it in a special veterans court so this would not be his third strike and he would receive treatment for 12 months rather than prison. So perhaps you guys would like to sign the petition I mentioned earlier asking the da to prosecute to the full extent of the law or contact the courts or the Lompoc police I certainly have I truly don’t see what else you guys think I should have done other than having never rented a room from his grandmother and then getting drunk and sleeping with him. But it’s not like I can change the past so unless you have a time machine bite me there’s nothing I can do.

    • You don’t want anything to do with him then why are you going to the police and finding all of this out? If he has treated you as bad as you say, you should be far, far away from the scum, not on here explaining why he does these things and how his is getting away with it. Save yourself girl, I have to wonder why you ever got involved with this POS and his family in the first place, let alone hang around explaining him!

      • I have a child with him and as explained earlier I was unable to renew my restraining order and the courts will not sever his parental rights therefore I see him when I take my daughter for his visitation. I was taking my daughter to his house in Lompoc when he was arrested. I moved out of the County hours away from him but he still apparently has a right to see his daughter according to the courts. I was hoping to get more people to sign the petition I mentioned earlier asking the da to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. Almost 20,000 people have signed it but it hasn’t made much difference yet. If people forget about it and move on I fear they’re going to let it be swept under the rug.

      • You better find yourself a better lawyer! And I’m sorry, you came on here explaining all of this, what do you think it will accomplish? You should be distancing yourself from him and his family. I take it this is an attempt to get people to sign your petition. Your flip response to Elaine Briden “Out of curiosity how does one LOOK like they will fit in in jail?” and other comments you have made are making it sound like you are defending the POS. If it were me I’d be ashamed to be associated with him and wouldn’t be commenting at all, I’d be finding a good lawyer and getting away from this psycho.

    • I’m confused because first you mentioned he kept going in to get the dog and then say he bound the dog to prevent him from going into the burning garage. The time it took him to bound the dog he could have taken it out of the building to safety.

      • I was attempting to explain in response to Tina and Barkley’s mom whom asked why he would bind Pooh then tell the firefighters where he was what the dog abuser Edward VanTassel stated to the police. He stated the dog Pooh kept trying to get into the burning garage and that this was the reason he bound Pooh yet tried to get back to poor Pooh. If he were intelligent or logical I doubt he would have told the firefighters about a bound dog on second story when the fire was contained to the garage. He is neither intelligent nor logical. I don’t know if it’s the schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (called schizoaffective disorder when a person has both issues) the traumatic brain injury in Iraq or the plethora of drugs he is on (or as some theorize) that meth ate his brain but he is very much lacking in the brains department.

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