Man on Trial for Cruelty
By Patti Weaver, World Correspondent
August 16, 2003 STILLWATER, OK — A Perkins man who is accused of tying two ropes around a
dog's neck so tightly that they grew into the dog's skin, causing a serious
infection, was ordered Friday to stand trial on an animal cruelty charge.
Thomas Louis Verner, 58, could receive as much as a five-year prison
term if he is convicted of animal cruelty. He is free on $2,500 bail.
The bulldog, which was treated at the Perkins Veterinary Clinic for
about 21/2 weeks, is recuperating at the Perkins Animal Shelter and is not
yet available for adoption, prosecutor Vince Antonioli said.
Verner's neighbor, Kelly Vierling, testified Friday at a preliminary
hearing that she saw the dog, Notorious, tied to a tree in Verner's back yard
for a year.
"The farthest I ever saw the dog able to get was about three feet," she
testified. "About 10 p.m. on June 11, the dog appeared at my front
door. . . I stuck water out there. He drank the whole bowl. I got him more.
"When I leaned down, I saw something dripping. He had a big, gaping
wound under the collar with blood and all this stuff. I called police,"
Vierling testified.
She said the dog's wound gave off "the most hideous smell I've ever
smelled in my life. It smelled like death."
With the help of Perkins police officers, she was able to get the dog
in her garage, she said.
The next morning, "when we opened the garage, the dog walked over to
the animal control officer. He walked into the cage and they left," she
testified.
Veterinarian Monica Bentley testified Friday that the dog "had rotting
tissue on his neck. There were only 2 inches of his neck where the skin was not broken,"
she said. "The wound was badly infected and also had maggots."
