Portage man, Charles Cole, faces animal cruelty charges

INDIANA -- A Portage man is facing animal cruelty and public intoxication charges after he allegedly struck and threw his 20-pound dog while drunk.

Charles Cole, 53, of 2662 Scott St., was found hiding in a nearby wooded area just before 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Police were called to the home in reference to an intoxicated male subject who had possibly killed his dog, according to the police report.

When police arrived, Cole's wife told them their dog had continually barked the night before because it was having trouble defecating. She asked her husband to help her give the dog a bath to ease the issue. The dog bit both her and her husband and became aggressive.

The couple put the dog into a kennel and went to bed. She said in the morning Cole again began to give the dog a bath, but it was aggressive and every time the dog would growl, her husband would strike it in head with a closed fist.

At one point, she saw him carry the dog to a pen in the backyard and "aggressively" throw it into the pen and she was afraid he had killed it, said police.

Police found the dog in the pen and the dog was conscious and breathing, but did not seem to be fully functioning. The woman said she was going to seek medical attention for the animal.

Police turned their attention to finding Cole. A neighbor shouted at officers that he had been in her backyard and walked into the woods.

Police located Cole, using a K-9 unit. He denied striking or injuring his dog. He appeared intoxicated and agreed to a portable breath test, which registered a .17 blood alcohol level, nearly twice the legal limit.

He was transported to Porter County Jail.

(NWI Times - July 22, 2015)