You know how sometimes you read a story and find yourself getting madder and madder with every new detail? This is one of those.
Charles Bell allegedly put his large black dog in a metal wire crate outside in the direct sun with no water last month in Florence, SC. An air conditioning repairman was working at a home nearby and saw the dog suffering in the heat. He knocked on the door to ask if the dog could be moved to the shade but got the door slammed in his face. He was called back to the area for work two days later and the dog was still there so he called animal control. When authorities arrived at the home, the dog was dead.
There is a photo of the dead dog here but if you don’t wish to look, I’ll tell you the reason I’m sharing it is because the photo shows that there is a regular outdoor dog kennel with food and water bowls inside right next to the crate. It would appear that the owners had means to contain the dog humanely right in their own yard but chose not to do so.
In addition to the statement from the air conditioning repairman, two other witnesses signed sworn statements verifying the abuse this dog suffered.
Animal Control officers appeared before a Florence city Judge to get an arrest warrant for Bell. The judge denied the arrest warrant, but did issue a courtesy summons. Bell was served with the courtesy summons July 6.
Had an arrest warrant been issued, Bell would have been taken immediately into custody. Instead, the courtesy summons informed him of the charges he faces and the date on which he is scheduled to appear in court.
A courtesy summons. Well, isn’t that nice?
Mr. Bell is scheduled to enter a courtesy plea in courtesy court on July 23. If convicted, he could receive a $500 courtesy fine or up to 30 days in courtesy jail.
Kudos to Florence AC for taking this matter seriously. Too bad they got a judge who apparently considers it a courtesy to hold someone like Mr. Bell accountable.
Hope its okay that I post some contact info here..?
Prosecutor Mark Besser, at 843-676-8633
Judge: Debra(Debbie) O. Jackson
843-665-3148 843-665-3148
Call and ASK POLITELY that the maximum penalty be handed down to Charles Bell for his tortuous and henious crime.
Per SC Code:
S.C. Code Ann. 47-1-10
“Whoever tortures, torments, needlessly mutilates, cruelly kills, or inflicts excessive or repeated unnecessary pain or suffering upon any animal .” This is a felony punishable by imprisonment of not less than 180 days and not to exceed 5 years AND a fine of $5000.
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t47c001.htm
Please sign petition –
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/owner-leaves-caged-dog-in-heat-to-die
I have not stopped thinking of this since I read it. I cannot CANNOT grasp how someone could do this… I PRAY that a lot of pressure is brought to give that sob the MAXIMUM the law (poor as it is) allows,
The result of this is that a lot of us will be hurt and angry and we will be a lot more likely to go along with the next request for “strict” laws of the kind that are misused to penalize responsible owners who won’t play ball with the animal activists.
YesBuscuit, you blocked Alex for continuously talking about veganism…. but Tom has free run to turn every animal cruelty case into some conspiracy by ‘animal activists’?
Alex was not banned for talking about veganism but rather for hijacking a thread and failing to heed a friendly warning to knock it off. If/when someone else crosses the line in my opinion, I will ban that person too. Until then, I’m in favor of free speech and with that, you get eggrolls.
Tom, we don’t need more strict laws. We need ACO’s, police, lawyers and judges to just ENFORCE the laws that are already there!
I hear you. More laws end up being twisted so that “average” pet owners are more restricted. Or, maybe “extreme” pet owners are more restricted? But, um, do you really think this guy should get away with a courtesy slap on the wrist?
It looks to me like they need a lot more than just to “enforce” the laws. I don’t think that many of them have a clue how to do it right.
(To someone else) The animal rights conspiracy does exist and so does the conspiracy to form an illegal business monopoly of so-called shelters and humane societies, so seriously, please get off that kick. Also, I didn’t mention the idea that this guy was a plant, so the defensive tone is suspicious. Yes, I do believe that there are people who are paid to commit these atrocities. We know what these people are like.
I frankly don’t care one way or the other what they do to what’s-his-name. The “tortured dogs” button has worn out with me. One tortured dog somehow means that you and I have to be saddled with every kind of fee and threat that they can think up, but if they do something just as bad, they get a free pass, every time and forever.
Sucking all of our mental energy into this kind of black hole is a huge part of the why. When you let them push your buttons they will push your buttons and exert a surprising amount of control over what you do. I don’t even have to know what transactional analysis is to know cause and effect.
I have always been concerned about what we do to ourselves to get at someone who has done something to anger us. Punishing the man is not going to bring the dog back to live or ease her pain. Involving ourselves increases our pain. Allowing this to feed the conspiracy, which does exist and which is appropriate to call a conspiracy, destroys the lives of many many pets.
Is that not what Tom does though? Did he not do the same thing with the Best Friends Billion Dollar thread? I don’t see a distinction between what Tom is doing and what Alex did other than Tom is yet to be called on it for one reason or another.
Obviously it’s your blog your rules though, I won’t protest any further :)
I have never felt bullied by Tom. Just because I often disagree with (or even fail to understand) his comments doesn’t mean I am going to give him a warning. If/when that changes, with Tom or anyone else, I will indeed give that person a friendly warning to knock it off. I want to err on the side of having an open discussion with all views welcome.
Fair enough. Thanks for entertaining my queries :)