Yes, the next response was titled 'Why are you trying to kill your Shih-Poo?'
I thought that about the poor pitty daddy, too.

He was disposable, once he did his job, I guess.
PS I call 'BS' on the whole stolen thing, too- today there are 13,310 pit bulls on petfinder, and innumerable freebies on CL- it's hardly difficult to get your hands on one, without resorting to theft.
It probably dropped dead from something treatable, if it had had veterinary care (I think I'm getting cynical watching 'Animal Cops'), and they didn't want to mention it.