A Doberman breeder was found dead in Colorado and ten of his puppies were missing. Paul Peavey was last seen on Monday, August 19, and a voluntary team of searchers found his body the following Saturday. His friend, Bruce Boynton, went to Peavey’s home on the intervening Wednesday and discovered his barn door open and all of his dogs missing. He said the house “and the whole property was torn apart, and anything of value was gone.” Mr. Boynton called the police, who launched a search.
Police came under fire for not sufficiently investigating the case. The criticism intensified when volunteers found the victim’s body with relative ease days after the Sherriff’s office opened its investigation. Clear Creek Sheriff Matt Harris apologized for the police failure and admitted that the response to Mr. Peavey’s disappearance was not up to standard. “For lack of a better phrase, we blew it off,” Harris acknowledged.
On their Facebook page, investigators from Clear Creek Sheriff’s Department stated that they are unsure whether ten puppies that should have been present on Mr. Peavey’s property were taken during his murder or had been sold beforehand. Officers had learned, however, that the puppies were all microchipped and called on anyone who had purchased a Doberman puppy in the state to contact them.
Mr. Boynton, one of Peavey’s closest friends, organized a 40-member team of volunteers to look for his pal and described to reporters the moment he found him. He said he located his friend buried under a pile of rocks, sticks, and other debris. “It’s something that would haunt you for the rest of your life,” he added.
Peavey owned and ran the Elite European Dobermans company, which bred two litters of the large dogs every year. The European Doberman is slightly bigger and more muscular than its American counterpart but also has a more unpredictable temperament. Experts say the American Doberman is more suited to family life and safer around children, whereas the European is more suited to work. The dogs are distinguishable by the color tone of their coat, which is much darker in the American breed.
