Alabama: Freddie Dewade Defoe, 50, charged with animal cruelty after dragging stray dog behind his pickup truck

ALABAMA -- A Limestone County man has been charged with one count of cruelty to animals for allegedly taking a stray dog that had bitten him on slow-speed drag up the street to get it away from his family and property, and official said Friday.

Freddie Dewade Defoe, 50, of 22391 New Garden Road, was arrested Thursday on a warrant obtained by Limestone County Sheriff's Deputy Gil Moore, records show. Defoe was released from the Limestone County Jail after posting bail of $750.

Defoe is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Feb. 4 in Limestone County District Court.

Deputy Stephen Young, public information officer for the Limestone County Sheriff's Office, said Defoe and his wife had repeatedly run the dog off their property on Slate Road, north of Athens. On one occasion, the dog tried to bite two of his family members.

On the day of the offense, the dog arrived wearing a broken chain. The dog became entangled with Defoe's dog and was eating his dog's food. Defoe told authorities that at one point the stray bit him so he tied the dog's broken chain to his pickup to lead it down the road and away from his property.

From a window, a neighbor saw a dog being slowly dragged behind a truck and reported the incident, Young said. The neighbor said the truck the dog was tied to was traveling slowly — about 2 mph.

“The dog suffered minor injuries — he got skinned up a little,” Young said. “A couple who happened upon the dog took it home, doctored it up and it is fine.”

Defoe told authorities he was not trying to hurt the dog, just trying to get it off his property.

“He did not handle the situation correctly,” Young said. “He should have reported it to us so we could remove it.”

As of Friday, authorities did not know who owns the dog.

(News courier - Jan 9, 2016)