Finding out what happened to Kapone between the time a former Memphis ACO picked him up and the time he was found living at a home in MS seems to be at the bottom of authorities’ Meh List. Kapone was found at a Senatobia, MS home on December 20, 2011. He was at the center of a criminal case implicating Memphis Animal Services due to cruelty charges against the ACO who failed to bring him to the pound. That ACO was allegedly tipped off by one or more city employees that police were waiting for her so she drove a dog named Max around in the sweltering heat while he suffered and died instead of bringing him promptly to MAS. Kapone was “missing” for 6 months and caring members of the public contributed to an $8000 reward for his return.
After the release of the local rotary club’s report which included allegations that selling dogs out the back door was commonplace and that some of the staff were connected to dogfighting rings, it seemed particularly important to find out as much information as possible about what happened to Kapone during his 6 month absence. Mayor Wharton and division director Janet Hooks say they need names regarding who is involved in criminal dogfighting activity at the pound – this would be their chance to get them.
But instead of a thorough investigation performed by a partnership between the Senatobia and Memphis police departments, it seems as if the case got – well, nothing actually. The Senatobia police apparently asked the guy who had Kapone to come down to the station and give a statement. The guy no showed. Then a few days later, he packed up and left town. The house is empty and available for rent. Police don’t know where the man is and say they can’t get a warrant because they don’t know what his role in Kapone’s disappearance was, if any.
The article mentions the cruelty case against the ACO going forward “as Memphis Police and Senatobia Police try to piece together the details of Kapone’s disappearance”. Do you see any evidence of either department working on the case? Hopefully there is something going on behind the scenes that they haven’t made public. Because what has been made public looks pretty shabby – as if no one really cares about a stolen dog, the intentional suffering inflicted upon another dog, organized dogfighting, or city of Memphis employees’ possible connections to any of these crimes.
(Thank you to reader Annie for alerting us to this story in the comments.)