Two Euclid residents, 23-year-old Trevonte Epps and 18-year-old Dazia Chuppa, are due to appear in court for their alleged roles in the death of Duke, a young pit-bull mix. According to a police report, the dog was found at their 25450 Shoreview Ave. residence in January, “chained up in the garage with debris covering the dog. The dog was unable to get up and move around.” When Duke arrived at the emergency vet he was having seizures, according to Euclid Pet Pals and statements released by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office at that time. There was no evidence that he had been recently fed, which was causing the neurological issues, the statements said. According to a Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office February Facebook post, Epps and Chuppa kept Duke inside their garage for months, where he was “chained up, emaciated, dehydrated, hypothermic, and suffering from a severe seizure, there was no food or water,” Duke was euthanized by Metropolitan Animal Hospital veterinarians shortly after being take in for care. A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court grand jury indicted both Epps and Chuppa on cruelty to companion animals charges, a fifth-degree felony. Now, Epps and Chuppa are set to have a pre-trial conference in common pleas court on April 8, and some members with the animal rights group Nitro Foundation want people to know that Duke hasn’t been forgotten. The group formed around Nitro’s Law which is named after Nitro, a rottweiler found dead with seven other dogs and several others starving in a Youngstown kennel run by Steve Croley in 2008. Croley served four months in county jail. Nitro’s Law was passed in 2013 and increased the animal cruelty charge from a misdemeanor to a fifth-degree felony. Starting at 8:30 a.m. April 8 outside of the courthouse at 1200 Ontario St. in Cleveland, where Epps and Chuppa’s pretrial conference is taking place, the group will be holding what their Facebook post has dubbed a “peaceful rally… where they will be the voice for Duke.” Wendy Hudik, an animal rights activist, said she has teamed up with the Nitro Foundation to do her part in supporting Duke. She added she was hopeful that people will come to the rally to demonstrate that animals are not alone in their defense and that people want tougher consequences for those who hurt them. “There are too many cases that we’ve seen, and we’ve gone through over the years,” Hudik said. “The cases in the past the most I have seen is 30 days to six months in jail for horrific abuse, horrific. … “A lot of people don’t want to know about it… and nothing changes because if you don’t know about it the judges go and do their thing, a slap on the wrist or give them the lowest allowable time which sometimes is 24 hours in jail. It is bad, the stuff I’ve seen, I’ve left the courtrooms crying.” She said that after posting about Duke’s story, a lot of people reached out who assumed that the case was already settled and wanted to get involved. “People didn’t know, they thought they were already charged, that they were in jail, so we are bringing light back to the story so that people realize that they have to go and support him,” Hudik said. “… nobody was there for this poor dog and that we need to come together, and we are not going to go away until these laws change.” She said that if someone sees an animal who is being abused they should report it to the police department and their dog warden. She added if additional steps need to be taken they could also contact the attorney general’s office. Euclid Pet Pals is accepting donations in Duke’s honor to help local animals in need at their website euclidpetpals.net According to the Cuyahoga County Clerk of Courts website, Chuppa pleaded not guilty during arraignment on Feb. 18 and was given a $2,500 bond, with the stipulation that she does not own animals. Epps pleaded not guilty and was also given a $2,500 bond with the condition to not own animals. ...read more read less