And according to information sent via email to the Courier from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Lindemood may be correct in her assumptions.
 |
| The body of a dog is seen in a yard on Shadow Lane in Conroe. According to neighbor Linda Lindemood, the dog has been dead in a backyard, chained to a nearby object since Dec. 6. |
On Dec. 19, Lt. Dan Norris, Public Information Officer for MCSO, passed along information from the patrol district indicating that deputies felt neglect was not involved in the death of the animal.
“A deputy contacted Linda Lindemood via public service on Dec. 9, 2011. While talking with Linda, she advised that animal control was not doing anything about removing the deceased animal behind her home. The deputy referred to notes where another deputy on Dec. 7 met with an animal control officer at that location and noted there were no immediate signs of animal cruelty and animal control was going to advise the owner on how to dispose of remains,” the email stated.
This information, however, is in direct conflict with information a representative with animal control gave the Courier last week, when the representative, reading from notes in their system said, “it was obvious the cause of death was starvation. He was emaciated.”
“You could see every bone in his back, every rib. I don’t care what they say, that dog was neglected,” Lindemood said.
Another problem is Lindemood said that she called both animal control and MCSO the week of Nov. 14 — three weeks prior to the dog’s death — to let authorities know of the situation so they had time to intervene. She said that she then called on Dec. 7 after she believed the dog had died.
“I keep a record of everything,” Lindemood said. “I called the sheriff’s office twice and I called animal control, and I made all of those calls about three weeks before the little dog died.”
Initially, both departments said they had no log of her first call.
“I have three calls from her,” said the animal control representative. “One in 2006, one in 2010, and one on Dec. 7, 2011. Animal control dispatched out to the house to check on the welfare of what she believed to be a dead dog.”
But Lindemood said that she recently received a call on her answering machine from a representative with MCSO stating that they had found a record of two calls from her the week she said she initially called to report the abuse.
“The man said ‘there must have been a misunderstanding’,” Lindemood said.
MCSO representatives could not be reached for information or confirmation regarding this case because of the holiday.
According to an animal control representative, the way neglect cases are worked follow a procedure.
 |
| A dog house and rope tied to a tree are seen near the body of a dog in the backyard of a home on Shadow Lane in Conroe. According to neighbor Linda Lindemood, the dog has been dead in a backyard, chained to a nearby object since Dec. 6. |
A concerned citizen makes a phone call to them to put in a complaint regarding abuse or neglect. An animal control officer will go out to the residence to check on the animal.
If there is neglect, they will respond one of two ways, depending on the severity of the case and the condition of the animal. They will either remove the animal immediately, or they will give the owner a timeframe to turn the situation around. If they give the owner a timeframe, they check on the welfare of the animal at the end of that time period and if the animal is still in the same condition, they will remove the animal.
If animal control officers are called out on abuse or neglect and find deceased animals, the representative said, they turn the case over to MCSO to investigate animal cruelty.
According to MCSO and animal control, neither entity has the authority to remove a dead animal from someone’s private property. If the dead animal isn’t removed, the health department may step in, give the owner a time frame to take care of the remains, and cite the owner if they don’t comply.
“I’m happy the dog is buried. I saw two ladies burying the little dog on Dec. 19, and they buried him right, but the way he was treated was not right. I want them to hunt the owner down and charge him, but I’m afraid that will never happen,” she said.
(Courier of Montgomery County - Dec 24, 2011)
Earlier:
