In a criminal complaint obtained by the Mountain Statesman from Grafton City Police, Lieutenant Michael Kochka, the department is charging Knotts with two counts of animal cruelty.
Kochka cites state law which concludes, “It is unlawful for any person to intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly, leave an animal unattended and confined in a motor vehicle when physical injury or death of the animal is likely to result.”
The criminal complaint declares that two separate individuals were told to put dogs in the Taylor County Humane Officer/Dog Warden vehicle parked on Maple Avenue, across from the Taylor County Bus Garage. The complaint stated that Knotts instructed an individual twice, once on the phone and once in person, to put the dogs in the vehicle.
As the individual passed through in front of Gump’s Shop N’ Save with the dogs, she was stopped by Knotts. Knotts was in her bus, reportedly on her way out to make her evening run.
After ascertaining that the lady did not know who the dogs belonged to, Knotts once again instructed her to put the dogs in the crate located in the back of the Humane Officer/Dog Warden Vehicle, which had been left unlocked.
It is reported that Knotts, while on the bus, instructed another individual to put a pug, caught running loose in the area of Shop N’ Save, in the front of her vehicle. As that individual approached the vehicle to put the pug in it, both black labs were reportedly already in the vehicle.
As he proceeded to put the pug in the car, a young girl recognized the dog as belonging to her neighbor, and took the dog safely home. Being worried about the dogs in the hot vehicle, the young man reportedly took water out to the two black labs to drink.
By the time Knotts returned from her bus route, one dog was dead on scene, and the other was taken to the Grafton Animal Hospital, where it was euthanized due to its poor health condition.
(Mountain Statesman - Sept 14, 2012)
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