North Memphis Man Indicted on Animal Cruelty Charges

 

TENNESSEE -- A Shelby County Grand Jury indicted a North Memphis man on animal cruelty charges after police earlier this year found a pit bull tethered to a tree with its collar so tight that the tissue of the dog’s neck had grown around the collar.

 

District Attorney General Amy Weirich said William Haley, 23, of 847 N. Highland was indicted on a felony charge of aggravated animal cruelty and a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty.

While making a call next door on May 3, police found the white pit bull tethered to the tree with an eight-foot-long steel cable and the collar embedded in the dog’s skin, causing massive infection.

The dog had muddy water in his bowl and only a small amount of food scattered on the ground.

The dog was taken to the Memphis Animal Shelter where veterinarians noted that the collar was so tight it had created a large wound and that segments of skin had grown over the dog’s collar in some places.

Veterinarians said the infection would have been fatal if left untreated.

Haley is free on $10,000 bond and will be arraigned later in Criminal Court.

(Shelby County District Attorney - December 10, 2013)