Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Caren Roybal | | Defense(s): | Joel Margules | | Judge(s): | Joe Grammer |
Dog found starving, infested with maggots
Panama City, FL (US)Incident Date: Friday, Jul 25, 2008
County: Bay
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Phillip Wayne Hall
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A Panama City man was charged with animal cruelty Tuesday after officers and animal control found a maggot-infested, starving dog behind a Panama City home.
Phillip Hall, 29, of 2503 Drummond Ave., called Animal Control last month looking for the dog, Panama City police officers wrote in an incident report. Hall told investigators the dog belonged to his father and that he had been looking after the animal for the last month since his father was put in a hospital.
Bay County Animal Control and Panama City police officers discovered the dog July 25, chained up behind a home on East Seventh Street. The large black mixture of Chow and Shepard had "maggots and flies" crawling around its mouth, eyes, penis and rectum, officers wrote in an incident report. There was filthy water near the dog, but officers stated that even if the dog had been strong enough to make it to the water, it probably was unsafe to drink.
"There was no food anywhere near the dog," officers wrote in an incident report. It was taking small, shallow breaths and did not respond to humans when officers approached.
The dog was taken to a nearby animal hospital, but veterinarians there said the dog would be dead within a few hours and decided to put it to sleep, officials said.
"The dog starved to death," said Jim Crosby, the director of Bay County Animal Control. The animal's fur was matted with dirt and feces, he added.
"The dog was humanely euthanized because of its horrible condition," Crosby said.
Hall was "upset" the dog had been removed and put to sleep, officers wrote, and denied that the dog had been in poor condition when it was taken from the house.
"He claimed to us that the dog was fine 30 minutes before we picked it up," Crosby said. "Extreme starvation that does not happen in a few minutes."
Since Hall admitted to being responsible for the dog's care, he was charged with one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty.
Attempts to reach Hall were not successful Wednesday.
"It's not that I think this person was trying to kill this dog, but the person failed to meet the proper standards of care," Crosby said. "It is more benign neglect than intentional torture. I don't think this guy said, 'I'm going to starve this dog and watch him die.'"
Hall faces up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine if convicted as charged, Crosby said.
"Contact us at animal control or contact the local police and we will follow up on" cases of animal abuse, Crosby said. "If someone is mistreating an animal, we're not going to tolerate that."
Case UpdatesA Panama City man was convicted Thursday of animal cruelty for failing to care for his sick father’s dog.
Philip Wayne Hall, 30, of Drummond Avenue, faces up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine when County Judge Joe Grammer sentences him Nov. 16. He went to trial on the first-degree misdemeanor Wednesday and Thursday.
Hall volunteered to care for his father’s chow/shepherd mix dog in June 2008 when the father was forced to seek extended treatment at a hospital. On July 25, 2008, an Animal Control officer responded to the father’s house at 314 E. Seventh St. and found the animal on a chain in the backyard and barely alive. The dog was taken to Parkway Animal Hospital and euthanized.
A Panama City police officer was called to the house before the animal was taken away and wrote in a report that a small amount of filthy water was in a bowl, but nowhere near the dog.
“(The water) would not have been safe to drink even if the dog had been strong enough to make it to the bowl,” according to the report.
After the dog was removed from the yard, Hall called Animal Control thinking the dog was missing and looking to see if it had been picked up. He was charged with animal cruelty after he told officers he had agreed to watch the dog.
Hall’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Joel Margules, said outside of court Thursday they believed the dog was poisoned by someone else. Jurors, however, did not see it that way.
John O’Brien, who supervises the misdemeanor division for the State Attorney’s Office, said prosecutor Caren Roybal presented some emotional testimony. The trial took two days because there were a number of witnesses called by both the prosecution and defense.
“There were some emotional moments,” O’Brien said of the trial. “The Animal Control officer who went out to the scene had photographs of all of it. And four days later, four days, the defendant goes to the Animal Control Office wanting to know where his dog was.” | Source: News Herald - Nov 6, 2009
Update posted on Nov 9, 2009 - 2:07AM |
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