Family saying goodbye to dog set on fire

One week after Dixie, a 4-year-old Red Heeler was kidnapped and set on fire, according to police, causing second- and third-degree burns to most of her body, the family stated on social media Monday, March 8, 2021, they are saying goodbye. | Trista Heywood, Facebook

TOOELE — The owner of a dog that was kidnapped, burned and then abandoned along the frontage road near the Great Saltair, according to police, says the family is saying its goodbyes to Dixie.

“This is a very hard thing for me to post and tell everyone but we are going to have to say our goodbyes to our sweet Dixie girl,” Trista Dawn Heywood posted Monday on the Tooele Lost and Found Pets Facebook page.

While Dixie, a 4-year-old Red Heeler who suffered second- and third-degree burns to most of her body including her face, hind legs and even inside her mouth, had been making some progress, Heywood posted Monday that the surgeries her dog still needs “are going to be very hard on her and she may not make it out of them.”

Trista Heywood, Facebook

One week after Dixie, a 4-year-old Red Heeler was kidnapped and set on fire, according to police, causing second- and third-degree burns to most of her body, the family stated on social media Monday, March 8, 2021, they are saying goodbye.

Even if the surgeries are successful, Heywood said doctors only gave Dixie a year to a year-and-a-half to live, which would be filled with constant trips to the hospital and a poor quality of life.

“She would not be able to go outside and do the things a regular dog is suppose to do and be capable of. Our hearts are so broken and we have no words, this is news that we didn’t want to hear. We are at a loss, we were praying so hard that she would make it out of this because she didn’t deserve any of this to happen to her. She is suffering and we can’t continue to let her suffer... we love you so much Dixie and just know you are always in our hearts I’m so sorry this had to happen to you baby girl,” she wrote.

Dixie was injured March 1 when Michael Paul Busico, 40, took the dog from Heywood’s home in Tooele, drove to the frontage road off I-80 near 9400 West, and set the dog on fire, according to police. Investigators believe Busico took Dixie “to directly intimidate and threaten” his ex-girlfriend and her family, according to a police affidavit.

Busico was arrested for investigation of torture of a companion animal, arson, theft and trespassing. As of Monday, formal charges had not been filed as prosecutors continued collecting evidence from both Tooele and Unified police.

After the incident, a GoFundMe page was set up to help pay for Dixie’s medical bills. Heywood said any money leftover from Dixie’s expenses will be donated to the vet clinic “and resources that help abused animals.”

“Thank you to everyone for all your support and love, thank you for all of donations that have been coming in. We are more blessed than ever with what everyone has done for her and for us. We can’t even put it into words how grateful we are,” she wrote.

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