GEORGIA -- A Rutland Circle man faces criminal charges after animal control officers said they found a dead dog in a shelter behind his residence Saturday.
Officers from LaGrange Animal Control and LaGrange police arrived at the home on the 200 block of Rutland Circle after a neighbor called 911, according to a police report. The caller told the responding officers that the homeowner next door had not been seen for at least a week. Officers knocked on the homeowner’s door, but no one answered.
As they walked around to the rear of the home, officers found a dead Rottweiler-breed dog inside a dog house, the report states. The reporting officer wrote in her official narrative that the she could observe the dog’s ribs and hip bones.
While the officer was walking back to her vehicle to collect the items she would need to transport the deceased dog, she spotted another small-breed dog, who was later determined to be pregnant, in the front yard. She secured that dog in her truck for transport to the animal shelter.
Once the animal control supervisor arrived, he determined that the Rottweiler had likely been dead for several days, according the report.
Officers were finally able to speak with the homeowner when he answered the front door while law enforcement officers were photographing the property and animals.
The homeowner allegedly told police he’d been out of town for more than a week and thought a friend was feeding the dogs. When police asked for the friend’s name and phone number, the man refused to give the information, according to the report.
The man also asked animal control officers not to take the dog’s body so that he could bury it.
Police issued the man citations for animal cruelty and allowing an animal to run at large.
LaGrange Municipal Code describes animal cruelty as “to whip, beat, maim, bruise, deprive of necessary sustenance, ill use, torture or abuse, in any manner, any animal in this city.” In Georgia, animal cruelty is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in prison and a $1,000 fine.
(LaGrange Daily News - November 24, 2014)
No comments:
Post a Comment