Residents Face Animal Cruelty Charges: Fund to Provide Care for 5 Dogs is Established
www.bentoncourier.com
March 1, 2006 -- BENTON, ARKANSAS--Benton police have charged four local residents with five counts each of animal cruelty, Officer Bobby Shell reported.
The arrests of Lavern Young, Michael Burrow, Linda Walker and Buryman Burrow occurred when Shell was on patrol in the area of Railroad Avenue and observed five dogs that appeared to be malnourished. All of those arrested resided at 1417 Railroad Ave., Shell said.
“The first dog I located was a Great Dane-mix that had been chained to the back of the house,” Shell said “He was pacing at the rear of the house and trembling under his weight.”
The dog had no food or water and the crawl space of the house was the only shelter provided for the animals, Shell's report of the incident states. Later, following a veterinary examination, it was determined that the Great Dane was about 60 pounds underweight, Shell said.
“The second dog that I located was a pitbull-mix that was on a chain near an inoperable van,” Shell said. “The dog had a problem with its left eye and something was oozing from it.”
Shell said he eventually learned that the dog's mouth had been wired shut and there was a large pocket of infection around the wired area. The wiring, which apparently occurred during veterinary treatment, reportedly was done because of a gunshot wound.
This dog also was trembling under its own weight, Shell said, and also did not have shelter, food or water.
The third dog, a tricolor walker-mix, was chained and had wrapped itself around a riding lawn mower that had been placed next to the house near a front door. A doghouse was located about seven feet from the location, but the dog was not able to reach it, Shell said.
As with the other dogs, it had no food nor water and was trembling under its own weight.
A fourth dog, a chocolate Labrador retriever, was unrestrained and running loose near the front door, Shell said, and the fifth, a shepherd-mix pup, was found untethered in the front yard. It was suffering from a type of mange and suffering from a severe case of intestinal parasites, he said.
After Shell contacted Animal Control personnel, Officer Kenny Young responded and took possession of the five dogs. Shell then made contact with the four tenants of the residence, charging each with city ordinance 18 of 1999, which pertains to cruelty to animal. Each was charged with one count for each animal, he said.
All of the dogs were taken to Benton Veterinary Hospital for medical evaluation, Young reportedly told Shell.
Shell said a fund has been established to raise funds to provide treatment for the animals, including surgery to remove the wires from the pitbull-mix's jaws.
All of the dogs will be available for adoption at Benton Animal Control Center, 606 W. Willow St.
Donations for the animals' care should be taken or mailed to Benton Veterinary Hospital, 1311 Military Road in Benton.
