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An employee at the city's Administration for
Children's Services is charged with animal cruelty after police say he left
his terminally ill dog out in the cold for
weeks.
The ASPCA says 55-year-old David Owens was arrested Saturday for leaving his Akita in his backyard, covered only by a
sheet of plastic.
Neighbors heard the dog's howling
for hours and called the authorities. The dog was suffering from cancer, and
agents found him covered in urine and mud and unable to walk.
"A dog of that age – who has obviously lived with the owner his entire
life – it would just seem to be more
appropriate to have a different time of ending than lying in the back yard in
the cold and just be terminally ill, and just covered with a cloth and not
provided the most minimal comfort,"
said ASPCA Special Agent Joe Pentangelo.
The ASPCA says doctors tried to
treat the dog, but couldn't even get his temperature because he was so cold.
He was put to sleep a few days later.
If convicted, Owens, who works in
personnel for the ACS, could face
up to a year in prison for
neglecting his pet.
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