TEXAS -- A 21-year-old Denton man was charged with animal cruelty Wednesday, officials said.
Richard Garrett Sims was booked into the city of Denton jail on a charge of cruelty to non-livestock animals after turning himself in on a warrant, said Officer Shane Kizer, spokesman for Denton police. Sims was released after posting a $500 bail later that same day.
Officials said Denton animal control received a complaint from an anonymous person that someone had killed a dog because the person didn’t want it anymore and put the body in a Dumpster.
The anonymous reporting party, police said, claimed that two people had attempted to kill the dog by breaking its neck.
According to a news release, an animal control officer located the dead dog in a Dumpster in the 400 block of Simmons Street on Monday, Oct. 28.
When the body was examined, officers discovered stab wounds on either side of the dog’s rib cage, the release states.
Police immediately opened an investigation after their findings, Kizer said.
During the investigation, a resident who lives near the Dumpster was contacted. The resident said his roommate was watching a dog for awhile.
The resident said his roommate did not want to take care of the dog any longer and attempted to kill the dog by breaking its neck, according to the police report.
The roommate, officials said, told police he found the dog in “obvious pain” and stabbed the dog to put it out of its misery.
At this time, the roommate has not been charged in connection with the dog’s death.
Kizer said the investigation is ongoing.
(Denton Record-Chronicle - November 8, 2013)
