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   NEWS/EVENTS OF NOTE AT AUBURN UNIVERSITY -- July 2-8, 1995
            Auburn University - University Relations
                         (334) 844-9999
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6/28/95                   Sam Hendrix, 344/844-3698

A YEAR LATER, BURN VICTIM GUCCI IN FINE SHAPE, SAY AUBURN VETS 

AUBURN -- Thirteen months after surviving a fiery torture at the
hands of a group of youths in Mobile, one of Alabama's most famous
dogs has received a clean bill of health from Auburn University's
Small Animal Clinic.
     Gucci, a 15-month-old mixed breed dog, was hung from a tree in
May 1994, doused with lighter fluid and set afire by teenagers.
After four surgeries on his eyes and one on his hip, Gucci this
week passed his final exam at Auburn.
     "We don't think he needs any more surgery," says Dr. Holly
Hamilton, AU ophthalmology resident, one of several AU College of
Veterinary Medicine faculty members who treated Gucci, a playful
mix of Husky and Chow breeds.
     "His face will never be normal, but he is outgoing and easy to
deal with," she says. "It's great to see such a horrible
disfigurement have such a successful outcome."
     When Gucci was brought to the Small Animal Clinic by owner
Doug James two weeks after the incident, the puppy was stable but
severely burned and scarred over his entire face. Gucci's eyelids
had been burned off, and there was danger that he might go blind
because of prolonged exposure of his cornea.
     But after four eye surgeries and a hip operation, Gucci began
the road to recovery. Dr. David Whitley, one of the surgeons who
treated Gucci, described the original procedure as moving skin
toward the scarred eyelids to enable Gucci to blink.
      Today, Gucci is a graduate of obedience school and, according
to his owner, is in great shape.
     "He's happy and in no distress," said James, an Auburn alumnus
and professor of communication arts at Mobile's Spring Hill
College.
     Gucci was one of 12,637 cases the AU Small Animal Clinic
treated in 1994, but he attracted national media attention because
of his plight. The attention has inspired the "Gucci Bill" in the
Alabama Legislature, which provides that any anyone who
intentionally harms an animal with intent to torture or kill may be
charged with either a Class C felony or a Class A misdemeanor.   "The Gucci bill has been endorsed by the Alabama Veterinary Medical
Association, the Alabama Animal Control Association, the Humane
Society of America and other groups," James said. "It is not an
animal rights bill, and it does not affect livestock or hybrid-wolf
breeders."
     James said the bill does not affect hunters, but would
strengthen Alabama's animal cruelty laws, which he describes as
"weak and not well defined."                             
# # # june95:AU-gucci
               CONTACT: James, 334/343-7379 or Drs. Whitley and McLaughlin,
334/844-4690.