Parker County Sheriff’s deputies are seeking the location of a Weatherford man in connection with the death of a dog stemming from animal cruelty and abandonment.
Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said Animal Control officers and deputies were dispatched to the 5300-block of North FM 51, where a dead dog was discovered in a dumpster Tuesday afternoon.
A concerned citizen reported the incident to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office.
A witness observed the suspect drag the dog from the back of his home. The suspect was identified as Kyle Rufus Childers, 25, of Weatherford.
The Sheriff’s Office is not identifying the witness.
The witness informed deputies that the dog had been recently abandoned in the trailer park by its previous owner, later identified as Anthony Leigh West, 39, of Weatherford. The dog had since been wandering the area. The witness had been caring for the dog, providing it with food and water.
When the witness observed Childers dragging the dog from the back of his property, they confronted him.
Childers then told the witness, “The dog was bothering him so he broke its neck.” The witness then observed Childers continue to drag the dog to the front of the park and disposed of it in a dumpster.
The dog was taken to a local veterinarian where X-rays were taken, providing evidence that the dog had died from a broken neck.
“This was an atrocious act – as bad as we have ever seen,” said Sheriff Fowler. “This poor dog was first abandoned by its owner and ultimately met a gruesome death by the violent hands of another. He only knew love for a brief moment though a stranger who tried to care. Even that was stripped away from him when the suspect broke this dog’s neck, displaying a blatant disrespect for the life of a beautiful creature.”
The case was filed with the Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division, where investigators spoke with the previous owner who implicated himself in the abandonment by stating the dog “had gotten out” for several days and “upon its return, it started destroying the park, so he drove it to a nearby farm and let it go.”
West was arrested Wednesday on a charge of cruelty to non-livestock animals, abandonment. As of this press release, West’s bond had not been set.
Sheriff’s investigators are seeking the location of Childers on a charge of cruelty to non-livestock animals causing death. Anyone with information regarding the location of Childers is encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Office at (817) 594-8845, or the Parker County Crime Stoppers hotline at (817) 599-5555. You may remain anonymous when calling Crime Stoppers.
Parker County Crime Stoppers will pay up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to this arrest.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here