Hammer the monster who burned the dog

Some person, and we use the term loosely, set fire to a young dog in Lancaster Monday night, leaving the poor, defenseless animal to race into the night, howling in agony.

Someone capable of doing that is capable of doing harm to humans as well.

Luckily for the little dog, a pitbull mix, he ran onto the lawn of Lingard Street resident Ann Brooks, who is the hero and a bright spot in an otherwise horrific story.

Brooks heard the dog's screams, ran outside and saw the dog in the flames, rolling against her house to try to put out the fire. What a sight that must have been.

Acting quickly, Brooks took off her shirt and beat down the flames, then wrapped the dog in the shirt and rolled it on the grass to finally get the fire out.

The dog was taken to an animal emergency clinic and survived, but is in for a long recovery. Doctors hope he can be saved.

This is a crime not just against a dog. That's bad enough.

But Ann Brooks should never have had to go through what must have been a surrealistic, nightmarish experience.

In a sense, it's even a crime against a whole community, because there we were, once again, on all the Los Angeles television stations for something that was not good.

This person, and again we use the term loosely, is not in any way representative of the people who live in this Valley, and the evidence for that is the high level of outrage being expressed by the rest of us.

"Abusing an animal is an unacceptable crime," said Tony Bell, communications deputy for Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who represents the AV.

That's why Antonovich proposed, and his colleagues on the board voted for, a $5,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the dastardly culprit.

It will be $5,000 well spent.