MARCH 24, 2016 UPDATE: Terrence Cody was sentenced today to nine months in the Baltimore County Detention Center.
“Deflate-Gate” isn’t the only major NFL story today. Baltimore Ravens nose tackle Terrence Cody, who is currently being investigated for animal cruelty, will be dropped from the team after the Super Bowl.
The official Ravens announcement today made no mention of the investigation by the Baltimore County State’s attorney’s office, however.
According to Cody’s agent, Peter Schaffer, Cody paid $8,000 for a Bullmastiff from Spain. When the dog became seriously ill, Cody took him to a vet. Schaffer said the dog died from worms.
He didn’t mention what kind of worms the dog had or the duration of the dog’s illness before Cody sought treatment. No further details about the investigation have been released.
If the dog had hookworms, PetMD.com notes that they can be fatal, especially for puppies: “These blood-sucking parasites can invade, inhabit and live in the dog’s small intestines. In their fourth-stage larvae, the hookworms can cause anemia and inflammation in the dog’s small intestine. Active worms leave bite sites and those sites continue to seep blood. … Death can come suddenly if the dog is not immediately treated.”
Schaffer is upset with the Ravens for canning his client. “This young man’s dog has died and the Ravens were so worried about possible ramifications from the league that they took a preemptive strike,” he told the Baltimore Sun. “The fact that the NFL has created such an atmosphere of hysteria that tramples on due process rights, the right of law and common decency is a tremendous problem in our league and our society.”
The “atmosphere of hysteria” is in reference to the NFL’s toughened-up personal conduct policy, which followed last year’s suspension of another Ravens team member, running back Ray Rice. In that domestic abuse case, an elevator camera captured Rice punching his fiancée in the face, knocking her unconscious. Rice later won his appeal of the suspension and it was overturned. Yesterday the NFL Players Association filed a grievance against the NFL to challenge the new personal conduct policy, ESPN reports.
Schaffer insisted that Cody loved his dog. “If the dog was being treated cruelly, why take it to a vet?” he said, according to TribLIVE Sports. “When the dog passed away, Terrence was in tears.”
No charges have been filed yet against Cody.
“If I find out that anyone holds anything against my client because of this, I will take every and all legal action to make sure my client’s rights are vindicated and that he’s made whole,” Schaffer told the Baltimore Sun.
Back when he was still whole, in March 2013, dog dad Cody announced on Twitter that he was selling one of his 5-month-old Presa Canario pups for $4,000.
Photo via Twitter