SOUTH CAROLINA -- A dog seized by Chester County Animal Control appeared to have weighed about one third of its normal weight, a Great Falls Police Department report said.
The dog’s unhealthy condition led to the arrest of Timothy Bryan Messer, 24, of 55 Circle St. Messer was charged with animal cruelty and was released on a $2,500 personal recognizance bond.
Great Falls Police Chief Steven Rice said police contacted Messer and he turned himself in, leading to the judge issuing the personal recognizance bond.
According to the report, an officer was on routine patrol on Pine Street around 9:30 p.m. April 23 when he was flagged down by a woman who told him a dog was chained to a tree behind her residence and the dog had not been fed in several weeks.
The officer walked to the back of the complainant’s yard and saw a brown dog lying in tall grass. The officer walked over to the dog and saw the animal had trouble standing up and all of its bones were visible.
The officer called Chester County dispatch and asked for the on-call Animal Control officer to call him. The Great Falls officer explained the dog’s condition to the Animal Control officer, the report said. The officer also took photographs of the dog and the area the dog was found in.
The officer, according to the report, found an empty food bowl and an orange five-gallon bucket that contained a small amount of water in it. The dog’s owner was not at home but a friend was sitting on the front porch and told the officer that the dog belonged to Messer but he was not at home.
The friend called Messer and told him he needed to talk to the officer as soon as he got back to town.
When the Animal Control officer arrived, the officer said it appeared the dog had not been fed or given water in three to five months, the report said. The report also stated the Animal Control officer said he has only seen one other dog that was in such bad condition since he has been working with Animal Control.
The dog, according to the report, appeared to be an English Bulldog and should have weighed about 90 pounds but only weighed approximately 30 pounds.
“The dog was in pitiful shape,” Rice said. “It was skinny.”
Rice said Animal Control took possession of the dog.
(News & Reporter Online Chester - May 11, 2016)
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