A concerned parent is speaking out after witnessing two young children mishandle a puppy at the new park built on the site of the former Eveleth High School in Virginia, Minnesota.
What the Witness Saw
According to a post shared by Amanda Kruse, the incident happened between 5:30 and 7 p.m. when two children, a boy and a girl believed to be around six or seven years old, brought a medium sized, dark brown or black puppy with longer ears to the park on a leash. The dog was reportedly called “Jessie.”
Kruse said the boy repeatedly carried the puppy by its front paws and brought it up onto the playground equipment, where the children pushed it down a slide.
The children then allegedly tried to get the dog to crawl through the diamond shaped openings of a climbing structure, with the girl saying the puppy had been “bad.” Kruse said she did not see exactly how the dog ended up higher on the equipment, but she did see it fall to the ground after being placed there.
The children then reportedly tried to put the puppy down the slide again.
Kruse said she stepped in and told the children to stop, warning them that the puppy was too young and could be seriously hurt or have its legs broken. She said she also told them she would try to find their parents if the behavior continued.
In her post, Kruse said she does not typically confront other people’s children but felt she could not stand by while an animal was being hurt.
Community Reaction Pours In
The post drew a wave of comments from local residents. Many praised Kruse for speaking up, while others expressed frustration that the children appeared to be unsupervised in a public park with an animal.
Several commenters suggested the situation should have been reported to police, arguing that a puppy in the care of young, unattended children raised safety concerns for the animal.
One commenter, Jesse-Sasha Jewett, said the puppy came from a litter belonging to her brother’s dog and that it had been placed with its new family back in June, tagging a neighbor in the comments to help identify the household. Others in the thread said they had experienced separate issues with unsupervised children at the same park in the past.
Kruse responded to several comments, noting she was hesitant to escalate the situation to law enforcement, citing a past experience where she felt police involvement over minor neighborhood issues did not go as expected.
No injuries to the puppy were confirmed, and its current condition and ownership status remain unclear.
