A 60-year-old animal lover was beaten to death with a pipe on Christmas Eve while trying to save a dog that was being abused by a neighbor, witnesses said.
Robert “Bobby” Cavanaugh, of Madison Heights, Michigan, was riding a bike around his neighborhood when he spotted a neighbor beating a dog, neighbors told local Fox 2.
Cavanaugh, a lifelong animal lover and pet owner, rushed to intervene, but he was then attacked by the neighbor with a weapon and suffered brutal injuries that claimed his life, according to his sister, Jane Thompson.
“Bobby was beaten to death with a pipe by a man [who] has been released from jail from repeated prison sentences,” she wrote on a GoFundMe page.
“Our family wants to honor him and give him a proper burial as the hero he was trying to save an animal and is now gone from a brutal attack,” she added.
Thompson described her brother as a man with a heart of gold who did not hesitate to try and save the abused animal despite the disabilities he suffered that left him living on government assistance.
Madison Heights Police Lt. David Koehler said Cavanaugh was found unresponsive and bleeding at the scene at around 7:40 p.m., with investigators saying he died due to blunt force trauma.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim and his family during this tragic time,” the police department said in a statement.
A suspect, who has not been publicly named, was arrested at the scene as police continue to investigate. Police noted that the suspect is known to law enforcement.
Neighbor Rebecca Spencer told reporters that the fatal encounter occurred after Cavanaugh confronted the man who claimed to be disciplining his dog.
“I believe it was a, ‘You’re not going to tell me how to raise my dog,’” Spencer told WXYZ.
“The fact that he lost his life over a dog… that’s who he was. He’d run into a burning house to get a guinea pig,” Spencer added.
As of Friday afternoon, the GoFundMe page for Cavanaugh has raised nearly $2,700 of the $4,000 needed for his funeral.
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