Animal Control officer fired after Lawrence police find malnourished dogs at shelter

INDIANA -- While investigators were responding to a report of vandalism at a Lawrence animal shelter, they said they discovered they had a lot more than vandalism on their hands: Many dogs were malnourished and a couple were already dead.

It's a story RTV6 broke Wednesday evening.

The Lawrence Police Department said the deputy police chief headed to the Lawrence Animal Control shelter to investigate some reported vandalism.

However when deputy chief Greg Swingle scoped out the shelter, he said he was very upset to find the animals -- mostly dogs -- were in poor condition.

Swingle said two dogs were already dead.

Swingle said many of the dogs were malnourished. He and the police chief decided to suspend a Lawrence Animal Control officer (a civilian employee), who was later fired.

"They were in poor condition. They had bodily waste on them from being in the kennel," Police chief Michael Walton said. "They were obviously underfed, and it was just nasty all the way around."

Now, Swingle says the shelter is under the jurisdiction of the police department. He said the department will not “stand for these sorts of conditions” at the shelter.

Police said the animals are still at the shelter, and Thursday, a state veterinarian will visit the shelter and assess the situation. Then, Swingle said, decisions will be made on what to do going forward, as far as what to do with the animals now at the shelter and animals that are brought there in the future.
(RTV6 - Oct 23, 2013)