According to the Clerk of Courts office, a jury of eight found Randy Mustard not guilty on Friday.
The trial and verdict was completed within one day.
The charges were filed after a woman said she went to the Pike County Dog Pound to find her lost dog, and heard crying puppies.
She said she found a dead mother dog and 11 live puppies stuffed in a black trash bag at the pound.
Mustard previously told NBC4 that he attempted to euthanize the puppies, which were approximately 2 to 3 weeks old. He said the animals were sick and too weak to survive without their mother who was already dead when she arrived at the pound.
Mustard told NBC4 the chemicals used to euthanize can take longer in puppies so it is possible to think they are dead when they are not.
"Puppies' veins is real small, and it's hard to tell if you miss a vein," Mustard said in response.
Mustard said once the live puppies were discovered in the bag, they immediately were brought indoors at the pound but died within the hour.
[You mean, once the woman found them stuffed in the garbage bag and began hollering about it and called the police, you tried to cover your tracks and act concerned for their welfare. This wasn't the first time Mustard has done this, it was only the first time he'd gotten CAUGHT doing it.]
Mustard, who maintains his innocence, had told the Gazette he had administered a lethal injection to the recently born puppies and told an employee to not dispose of them until they had died.
He alleges the employee did not listen to instructions, which led to the puppies being placed in the bag while still alive. However, the sheriff's office reported the employee had said Mustard did not give the puppies the lethal injection.
[What are the necropsy results for the puppies? Did they have drugs in their system or is this guy flat out lying about having given them an injection? Where are the logbooks which are required by law that detail the animal's identification number, the time, the date, the exact dosage given, etc???]
(NBC4i - July 26, 2012)
