When a Lincoln Co, MO woman came across a dog tied to a sewer pipe in a vacant lot on December 27, she was concerned that the dog might freeze to death. She was unable to take the dog home herself so contacted the county sheriff for help. The sheriff’s office told her the county has no shelter. Sucks being you, freezing dog. Feeling it would be wrong to leave the dog where he was, she drove him to the nearest shelter, located in the city of Wentzville, run by the police department. Fearing they too would refuse to help the dog, she lied about where she found him, stating it was within city limits.
The dog’s owners were reunited with their pet and said he had run off due to an electronic fence failure. The owners were grateful that the Good Sam had saved their pet, named Diesel, from freezing on the tether in the vacant lot. The city of Wentzville issued a $50 citation to the owners for allowing Diesel to run loose. This prompted the Good Sam to come forward and admit she hadn’t found Diesel within city limits as she had initially reported and she hoped the city wouldn’t fine the owners. Instead the city charged the Good Sam with a crime: filing a false police report.
The Good Sam’s first reaction was to fight the misdemeanor charge but upon learning she could be sent to jail if convicted, she decided to plead no contest so that her three children would not be left motherless for the duration of her sentence if she lost her case. She made a plea deal with the prosecutor to perform 20 hours of community service and receive 6 months of probation. Diesel’s owners were in court with the Good Sam and paid her court costs for her.
Just so we’re straight here:
- The Lincoln Co sheriff’s department was apparently content to allow a lost pet to suffer and die on a tether in an empty lot.
- The city of Wentzville is the suck.
- If not for the so-called Irresponsible Public, there would be precious little worth clinging to in the animal welfare world.
(Thanks Davyd for sending me this story.)