Thursday, October 20, 2016

Oklahoma: Ronald Parker, 65, already on probation for meth, is facing animal cruelty charges

OKLAHOMA -- A 65-year-old Perkins man has been charged with failing to provide necessary medical attention, shots, food and water for the care of nine dogs kept inside his residence — while he was in the Payne County Jail for violating his probation in a methamphetamine possession case.

Ronald Ray Parker, who remains on probation for possessing methamphetamine at his residence in 2013, was arraigned on a felony animal cruelty charge last week. Parker has been freed on $5,000 bond pending an Oct. 28 court appearance with an attorney in his animal cruelty case, court records show.


The nine dogs, which were initially placed in the Perkins Animal Welfare Department, “were transferred to a rescue and all are doing well,” Perkins Police Chief Bob Ernst said.

Perkins Police Officer George Hannon was sent to Parker’s residence on July 22 to check on the dogs’ welfare with Animal Control Supervisor Colleen Crummy, according to his affidavit.

A relative of Parker said “he received a call from Ronald (Parker) this morning asking him to take care of his animals,” but the front door was locked, the affidavit said.

“We walked around to the back of the residence and attempted to enter through the back sliding glass door,” which had a piece of wood blocking the track, the Perkins officer wrote in his affidavit.

“I was able to see several small dogs inside the residence. I was also able to see urine and feces all over the floor. The smell outside the glass door was overwhelming. I was able to knock the wood over and open the door,” the Perkins police officer wrote in his affidavit.

“AC Crummy and I rounded up the dogs and got them outside the residence so we could check on them. There were nine dogs inside the residence. All of the animals appeared to be in poor health. One of the dogs had a large open wound on its abdomen with maggots in it. This dog also appeared to have recently had a litter of puppies.

“All of the dogs were infested with fleas and they all had skin sores. The dogs had severe matting and some of the dogs had feces in the matted hair,” the Perkins officer alleged in his affidavit.

“There were roaches everywhere in the residence…they fell off the cabinet doors... they were crawling on the clothing that were hung up in the closets. There was no running water to the residence due to a leak in the yard…The dog food that was out had vomit in it along with roaches, and it was sitting on urine and feces, which covered the entire floor.

“There were bags of trash on the floors, counter tops, the stove and furniture,” the affidavit alleged.

A man told the Perkins officer that “the house is always in that condition and that he tries to clean it,” the affidavit alleged.

He said “when a dog dies in the residence, Ronald (Parker) will place it on a dresser instead of disposing of it. No corpses were found during our time in the residence,” the Perkins officer wrote in his affidavit.

“The dogs were seen by the OSU medical staff,” which confirmed that the dogs were flea-infested, the affidavit said.

“The dog with the open wound will require surgery. One of the dogs had feces-impacted paws. Another of the dogs had fractured teeth. Most of the dogs have severe matting and skin sores that will require medical attention beyond this initial visit,” the affidavit said.

“Due to the conditions of the house and Ronald’s age, I’m sending a referral to Adult Protective Services,” the Perkins officer wrote in his affidavit.

Two weeks later, Parker voluntarily forfeited to the Perkins Animal Welfare Department his ownership of the small dogs described as a male Pomeranian mix, a male Pekingese mix, a male Yorkie mix, a female Shih Tzu mix, another male Yorkie mix, a male Shih Tzu mix, a male terrier and Shih Tzu mix, another male Yorkie mix and a female Pekingese, court records show.

In 2014, Parker had been placed on a four-year deferred sentence with conditions including a substance abuse evaluation and random drug testing for possessing methamphetamine at his residence in February 2013, court records show.

Two and one-half years later, on July 14 of this year, Parker was ruled in violation of his probation and given a five-year suspended sentence except a 30-day jail term, court records show.

If convicted of cruelty to animals, Parker could be given as much as a five-year prison term and a $5,000 fine, according to the charge filed last week by Payne County Assistant District Attorney Tom Lee.

(1600KUSH - Oct 6, 2016)

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