Updated – Frankford man charged with setting puppy on fire

UPDATE — Fleet is being held on $500,000 bail at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Holmesburg.

A Frankford man was arrested Friday after his children told their school counselor their father had set their puppy on fire.

John William Fleet, 33, was taken from his home on the 1100-block of Sanger Street, where SPCA officers found a 5-month-old pitbull mix with severe burns.

Fleets children, 6 and 12, told a counselor at Harding Middle School their father made them hold the puppy down as he poured rubbing alcohol on the dog, then set it on fire. The dog, whom SPCA employees have renamed Rudy, was found in the basement with damage to one eye. His neck and ears had been damaged, and his whiskers burned off. Rudy was also found with cigarette burns.

The puppy is being treated at the SPCA, while Fleet’s children stay with their mother. Fleet is scheduled to appear in court Feb 8 for assault and firearms charges stemming from an incident last year.

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