Over the past couple of weeks, three women — who are apparently lacking in brains as well as compassion — have made disturbing Facebook posts regarding their dogs.
Fortunately, concerned Facebook users contacted authorities, and two of the women are now facing animal cruelty charges. All the dogs are safe. One of them is already in a loving new home, while another must stay with his loser owner.
Kimberly Ann Howell: Posted Pictures of Dog’s Snout Wrapped with Duct Tape
Kimberly Ann Howell of Salisbury, N.C., was tired of her dog’s incessant barking. So, did she bother trying to train the mixed-breed pup to stop this annoying habit? Nah, that would take too much effort.
Instead, this loser wrapped duct tape around the dog’s snout — and then posted pictures on Facebook.
“Hah, hah,” she wrote.
No one else thought it was funny. Authorities were contacted, and Howell was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty. She insisted she’d only done it as a joke, and had removed the duct tape after she took the pictures of the unhappy dog. Hah, hah.
Along with animal cruelty, Howell was charged with failing to appear in court on two previous traffic charges. She was jailed on $3,000 bail and has a court date of Nov. 4, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Fortunately the dog wasn’t injured, Ryan Barkely (ironic name, isn’t it?) of the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated the case, said in a statement, USA TODAY reports.
Unfortunately, because the dog showed “no apparent injuries or signs of neglect or mistreatment,” according to Barkely, the poor pup will not be taken away from Howell.
DEC. 3, 2015 UPDATE: Howell was convicted today of animal cruelty, WBTV reports. She was sentenced to 18 months probation and assigned 36 hours of community service. Judge Kevin Eddinger, who called what Howell did a “callous act,” said he would prefer she performs her community service at animal control.
Cherica Winston: ‘Imma keep shooting her with this tazer and bb gun’
Don’t hire Cherica Winston of Aurora, Colo., as a dog sitter.
“$50 bucks and you can have this damn pitt,” she posted on her Facebook page over the weekend. “Imma keep shooting her with this tazer and bb gun till she’s gone…”
Travis Smith, a friend of Winston’s, contacted the Aurora Police Dept., and officers were sent to her home to investigate. Although they didn’t find a taser or BB gun, they did find a small dog locked in a crate with no water or food.
“There was an awful smell,” Sgt. Chris Amsler told FOX31. “The animal had been peeing in the crate and was soaked in the urine.”
Winston was charged with animal cruelty, but faces no charges for her Facebook post because there was no evidence the dog had been shot.
Smith told FOX31 that when he saw Winston’s disturbing Facebook post, “My immediate reaction is, ‘Oh, my God!’ I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
When Smith confronted Winston her about her post, she “mouthed off” to him, he said.
“This is a great example of how a group of people saw something that concerned them, told us and we were able to get successful resolution,” Amsler told FOX31.
The dog — who may or may not be a Pit Bull, a breed that’s banned in Aurora — is being cared for by the Aurora Animal Shelter. Winston is due in court Oct. 27.
Unidentified Texas Woman: ‘I need someone to come shoot my dog’
“I need someone to come shoot my dog,” wrote an unidentified woman from Troup, Texas, on her Facebook page Sept. 17.
“No one here has the heart to do it. We will provide the gun.”
The woman later told authorities she wanted Cinnamon, her 3-year-old Saint Bernard/English Bulldog mix, killed because the dog kept getting into the garbage.
“It’s devastating,” Nanette Moss of Smith County Animal Control, the shelter to which Cinnamon was taken, told KHOU. “I work with these dogs every day. They are my life, and when she walked through my door it just broke my heart. She’s a sweet dog and how can somebody shoot a sweet dog?”
The woman is facing no charges because she surrendered Cinnamon to animal control.
As for Cinnamon, she is now in a loving forever home, according to KYTX. She was officially adopted Sept. 21 by Theresa Vail, who had originally planned just to foster her.
