Conway Chained Dog Euthanized
By Tracy Whitaker, Log Cabin Staff Writer
A Conway man has filed a complaint with the Conway Police Department alleging that the city's Animal Control Department took his dog from his yard and euthanized it without reasonable time to pay the fines and have it released.
Christopher Toler filed his complaint after animal control was called by the responding police officer to impound the dog at the city's animal shelter on July 18.
According to a police report of the incident, Officer Gordon Ball noticed the 90-pound rottweiler was chained at Toler's house on Garland Street, where the family owns land and three houses on the corner, and was "suffering and twitching" in the summer heat. The report described a dog "who is usually aggressive" but was exhausted and collapsing from the heat. The chain was reportedly tangled so that the dog couldn't reach his water dish, which was nearly empty, the report said.
The officer gave the dog water until Animal Control arrived to take the dog from the yard, the report said.
Toler said he wanted to put the dog in its pen to correct the situation, but was told by Ball "second chances" aren't available. Toler called his mother, Nellie Moore, who was at work in Jacksonville, to involve her in the situation. The officer wouldn't take the phone and said he "didn't want to speak to anybody on that damn phone," according to Toler's statement in a complaint filed with the police department regarding the handling of the situation.
Toler said in his complaint that the officer had to "wrestle the dog down to get control of him" and put a muzzle on to keep him from biting.
Toler said the officer didn't inform him of where the animal was going or any procedure to get it back, other than being told of the court date on the citation. Toler said he was told that after the court date he may have the opportunity to get the dog back.
Toler pleaded guilty on Aug. 18 to charges of not providing the dog with an annual license tag, proof of rabies vaccination and two counts of "animal care." Moore had paperwork from a veterinarian that indicated the dog's shots were past due. The fine was $200.
On the court date, the dog had been at the shelter for one month. Toler was told that the dog had to be picked up from the shelter within five days or the dog would be euthanized.
The dog had accumulated approximately $350 in fees at the shelter, which would have to be paid before he could be picked up. Moore said that the day of court was the only time additional fees were mentioned, and that her family couldn't scrape the money together in five days.
Moore said her attempts to make financial arrangements with the animal shelter were rebuffed and the dog was put to sleep six days after the court date.
She maintains that the family loved the dog and would have made his life suitable according to whatever the authorities required to get him back, but said she wasn't given this information in time for financial issues to be addressed.
Other than the incident report already made available, the police department nor the shelter would comment due to the pending investigation of the complaint.
(Staff writer Tracy Whitaker can be reached by e-mail at tracy.whitaker@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1253.)
