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Case #13198 Rating: 2.0 out of 5
Dog denied medical care
Annapolis, MD (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Dec 22, 2007
County: Anne Arundel
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Demetrius Wells
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A 30-year-old Annapolis man was charged this week with animal cruelty after he allegedly failed to get medical treatment for his 10-month-old pit bull, according to court records.
Demetrius Wells of Gilmer Street was charged Wednesday (Feb 20, 2008) with failing to provide care for the dog and inflicting cruelty on the dog, according to charging documents.
According to the documents, Mr. Wells brought his chocolate and white colored pit bull named Chance to Animal Control Dec. 22 to be euthanized because of a disease in its left eye.
Due to the severity of the illness and the pain the dog was in, the animal was put to sleep immediately, the documents state.
However, the animal control technician suspected that the condition was a sign of neglect on the part of the owner.
The eye was swollen and bulging out of its socket and the dog was bleeding from both the eye socket and the nose, the documents state. There also was a cut across his face near his eyes. Mr. Wells told police that he had taken the animal to Benfield Animal Hospital on Nov. 30. Dr. Young Chun told officers that he had diagnosed Chance with glaucoma and told Mr. Wells he needed to provide the dog with medical care within 24 hours or the condition would get worse, according to charging documents.
Veterinarians referred Mr. Wells to several other medical facilities. Mr. Wells contacted the facilities but found that he could not afford to have the dog treated there, the documents state.
Mr. Wells did not return calls for comment yesterday. If convicted, he faces 90 days in jail or $1,000 fines for each charge. The trial is set for April 7.
Lt. James Richey, commander of Animal Control, said while many people think animal cruelty charges result only from physically hurting a dog, not caring for him also can trigger legal action.
"There has to be some kind of intent on the part of the person. They have a responsibility to care for their animals," he said. "Animal cruelty can be considered not getting pet care when it is required. They just can't let the animal sit and suffer for a couple of months."
"If our dog gets sick, that's not your fault. It's just when you don't do anything about it" that it becomes an animal cruelty case, he explained.
Animal Control technicians are always on the lookout for cases of neglect and investigate all possible cases.
If a pet owner has trouble caring for their pet, he or she may bring the pet into Animal Control. If the pet is able to be adopted, Animal Control will give it medical care and attempt to have someone adopt it. If not, it would be put down.
And if a person in Mr. Wells' situation brought the dog in immediately after the dog was diagnosed, Animal Control would have taken the dog and it would not have been an animal cruelty case, Lt. Richey explained.
Wayne Beall, of Animal Resource Foundation Inc. in Chester, said it's not uncommon for people to have trouble paying their vet bills, especially for spaying and neutering animals.
There is help out there, he said.
"People really should reach out to the rescue organizations that are out there," he said. "People just have to do the research to find out who can help them out."
People in financial trouble also can turn animals over to rescue organizations if they realize the animal is sick and aren't able to afford care.
Sheila Wentzel, president of Chesapeake Cats and Dogs, a rescue and adoption organization, said helping sick animals is costly, but important.
Case Updates| According to court records, Demetrius Wells was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of failure to provide adequate care for an animal on July 28, 2008. He was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation and a $500 fine. | Source: Case Number: 6A00186661
Update posted on Mar 25, 2010 - 4:17PM |
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