Animal Control Officer Tails And Rescues Dog Strapped To Back Of Vehicle

“WTF….if the owners don’t allow their dog to be in the boot of the car in it’s crate; I pity how the poor thing lives at home!! If that’s how they feel then they shouldn’t have pets at all; bloody heartless morons!!”

A South Carolina animal control officer went above and beyond her call of duty when she spent two hours following an SUV that had a dog strapped outside of it.

Nicole Hubbard and her boyfriend were driving along the I-95 in Georgia when they noticed an airline crate attached to the cargo holder of a Dodge Durango.

“We were riding back from a family vacation,” Hubbard said. “We thought, ‘Surely, they don’t have a dog in the back of it.’ But when we got up next to it, there the dog was.”

A beagle mix was inside the crate, which was positioned directly behind the tailpipe, sending exhaust right through the carrier. Hubbard noticed there was no water container for the pup (which probably would have sloshed around anyway).

How Utterly Stupid & Ignorant

With it being 94 degrees out, she was concerned that the dog could become very ill from the heat and exhaust, not to mention the anxiety of being in a crate on the outside of a vehicle.

Though it appeared securely rigged with bungee cords, a bad bump could have knocked the carrier off and into the path of another vehicle.

She immediately informed highway patrol, who told her an officer would be dispatched to pull the vehicle over.

“We stayed behind them, and no officer ever came,” she said. She called again, but this time was told police couldn’t respond.

“They said they just don’t have an officer to send,” Hubbard said.

The couple continued to follow the SUV for about two hours, until they crossed the South Carolina border. She called the SC highway patrol, who showed greater concern for the situation.

“They were wonderful,” Hubbard said.

Hubbard with her own dogs.

An operator kept her on the line until a trooper could be sent to the area. Finally, the SUV was pulled over.

Hubbard does not know if the driver was issued a summons. It is unlikely that what was done would legally be considered animal cruelty, but it certainly falls under the definition of stupidity.

Hubbard said keeping a dog in a crate by an exhaust pipe with no water on such a hot day was unacceptable.

There wasn’t even enough room for the dog to turn around inside.

“I was just amazed that somebody could be that uneducated of the dangers with that dog being there,” she said. “Hopefully, they learned something from it.”

News Link:http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2013/08/animal-control-officer-tails-rescues-dog-strapped-to-back-of-vehicle/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LifeWithDogs+%28Life+With+Dogs%29

Women who tossed dog out of car sentenced to 7 months in jail

 

“Apologies for size of picture but I think scum like this deserve to have more than a thumbnail; so they will be recognised by all! Notice I also changed the title,’ dog tosser’ didn’t seem right!!”

A woman who threw her boyfriend’s dog into freeway traffic, killing it in December, will spend seven months in jail and barred from owning pets for five years.

Shellie Hubbard, convicted of throwing her boyfriend’s dog on the freeway, causing it to be struck and killed, is pictured here at her arraignment in January. She was sentenced Friday to seven months in jail.

The sentence was imposed Friday afternoon by Clark County Superior Court Judge Barbara Johnson. Shellie Hubbard, 46, of Portland pleaded guilty Aug. 30 to first-degree animal cruelty, third-degree assault and possession of methamphetamine.

The judge noted the seriousness of the case that sparked public interest last winter, summing up Hubbard’s actions: “It endangered other people, the victim, and then obviously the throwing of the dog in traffic” caused an animal’s death.

The crime happened the evening of Dec. 22, when Hubbard got into an argument with her boyfriend, Darwin Vonschirmer, while Vonschirmer was driving south on Interstate 205. The couple were apparently breaking up, attorneys have said. As their car approached Padden Parkway, Hubbard struck him with a broken coffee mug, slicing his hand, troopers said at the time.

Vonschirmer pulled the car over to the shoulder. As they continued arguing, Hubbard let the Catahoula leopard hound dog, Peanut Butter, out of the car. When Vonschirmer tried to scoop up the dog, she threw Peanut Butter into traffic.

As the dog attempted to walk back to the freeway’s shoulder, it was struck by a car and died at the scene.

The sentencing range for first-degree animal cruelty is up to one year in jail. Prosecutors and the defense both recommended a seven-month sentence. Hubbard has credit for 52 days served.

“It is a substantial sentence within our sentencing ranges,” Johnson agreed, imposing the term.

The judge also ordered a substance abuse evaluation because one of Hubbard’s crimes is drug-related.

Hubbard did not wish to speak at the hearing. On her behalf, defense attorney Jeff Sowder said his client loved Peanut Butter; she even retrieved the dog’s body from the freeway 10 days after she was released from jail and buried the dog herself. “It’s disgraceful that a dogs body could rest dead on a highway for 10 days…it’s more disgraceful she professed to love the dog, she ultimately put to death!”

“I think (her boyfriend) would say the dog was both of theirs,” Sowder said.

Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Nisle read a statement written by Vonschirmer, who wasn’t present for the hearing. He said he was still grieving Peanut Butter and another dog who ran away around the same time as the incident. “If he loved the dog so much, how come he left it on a highway dead, for 10 days? I would be out all hours until I found it, if it were my pet!”

“I miss my animals every day, and I think about them every day,” he wrote, later adding: “I have forgiven her. I no longer feel threatened by her.”

News link:-http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/sep/07/dog-tosser-sentenced-to-7-months/