Dog hanged to death from tree, woman charged
Texas City, TX (US)Incident Date: Monday, Mar 31, 2008
County: Galveston
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Tiffany Hegwood
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Animal cruelty charges were filed against a Texas City woman after she allegedly hanged her dog from a tree, FOX 26 reports.
Police say Tiffany Hegwood, 32, strangled her dog from a tree Monday in the 3400 block of Loop 197 North after pit bull jumped on two children, scratching one of them. Hegwood contacted animal control to report that incident to Animal Control, and officials told her to bring the dog to the shelter by the next day.
But when she failed to bring in the dog, an animal control official and a police officer went to her home to pick it up, FOX 26 reports. But Hegwood told police she had shot and buried the dog, though she couldn't remember where it was buried.
Officials gave her four hours to find the dog and bring it to the shelter, though she showed up around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday with the dog's body, which has suffered no gunshot wounds. It was then she admitted to the strangling the pit bull.
Hegwood was arrested on an animal cruelty charge. Her bond was set at $5,000.
Case UpdatesA dog that police said injured a toddler before it was hanged by its owner in a tree had bitten before, an attorney probing the injury said.
Aubrea Morse, 2, was knocked to the ground Monday by either a playful or attacking 70- to 80-pound pit bull at Memorial Oaks Apartments at 6601 Memorial Drive. Accounts of the incident - and even the type of dog - differ.
Officers initially thought Aubrea suffered only scratches after Jennifer Blake, the apartment's manager, called police.
Trena Morse said she took her toddler to Mainland Medical Center after finding six to 10 puncture wounds on her backside.
Tony Buzbee, an attorney representing Morse, said Friday the dog had bitten a resident who lives above Trena Morse's mother-in-law, who was keeping Morse's children at the time of Monday's incident.
Buzbee said he has a written statement by the woman saying she was bitten by the dog. He said the woman reported the incident to the apartment manager.
Blake said she's managed the apartments for less than two weeks after ownership changed hands. Blake denied the dog was dangerous, saying it had not bitten anyone.
"That dog didn't bite and is not aggressive," Blake said. "It was an American bulldog. It's unfortunate what happened."
Buzbee said the apartment manager wouldn't have called police if she believed the dog was being playful.
Buzbee also accused Blake of trying to minimize responsibility in saying the dog only scratched Aubrea.
"(That) led animal control to release the dog," Buzbee said. "It was only after they learned that the dog had actually bitten the child that they treated the situation as a dog-bite case."
Blake said she arrived at work Monday and saw the dog outside. She asked around and found which apartment it belonged in. She returned it to the apartment two or three times she said, but it kept escaping.
"There were several people walking around all day that were not injured," Blake said. "The reason the child was injured is she's 2 and the dog is 80 pounds."
Police charged Tiffany Hegwood, 32, with cruelty to animals, accusing her of hanging the dog in a tree to avoid having to pay for it to be quarantined for 10 days or euthanized and its head removed to be tested for rabies.
Blake said Hegwood wasn't a resident at the complex.
She said the complex has rules that no dogs weighing more than 25 pounds are allowed on the property. The leasing rules also forbid pit bulls and Rottweilers, she said.
"My condolences go to the family, but I didn't see the dog bite her," Blake said.
Meanwhile, someone placed a noose in a tree in the complex as a cruel joke, insinuating the dog was hanged there, Blake said.
Police have not said where the dog was killed.
Buzbee said Morse continues to monitor Aubrea's condition.
[Pet-Abuse.Com Editor's Note: Although it seems as though this article is attempting to place blame on the canine victim here, it is important to remember that a dog never deserves to be tortured to death. If the dog was deemed vicious and it was required to be destroyed, humane euthanasia was the ONLY acceptable option.] | Source: The Galveston County Daily News - April 6, 2008
Update posted on Apr 6, 2008 - 11:13AM |
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