Dog beaten, teeth filed down to pulp
Crown Point, IN (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Oct 21, 2006
County: Lake
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Allen R. Eichelberger
A Crown Point area man has been charged in Lake Superior Court with cruelty to an animal.
Allen R. Eichelberger, 53, of the 9000 block of Pineview Lane, is charged with abusing a Yorkshire terrier named "Clark" between Oct. 21, 2006, and Dec. 21, 2006, in Crown Point.
Court records indicate Eichelberger left the dog tied to a tree in the back yard of his former wife's home in May with food on the porch and a note that the woman and her family watch the dog.
No arrangements had been made for the family to care for the dog prior to its arrival.
The family brought the dog to the Crown Point Animal Hospital, where it had been boarded in the past, and the former wife said she feared the dog had been abused.
Court records indicate that a veterinarian discovered 26 of the dog's 40 teeth had been filed down, including three that had been filed so that the pulp cavity and nerve tissue were exposed. The dog also was lame as a result of having his toenails cut so short that the quicks were exposed.
Lake County police Detective Michelle Weaver interviewed Eichelberger's teenage daughter who said she'd seen Eichelberger pick up the dog by the leash, twirl it around and slam the dog on the ground when he was trying to potty train the animal.
In addition, Eichelberger told the girl that the dog "bites too hard and he doesn't want him to bite us," and suggested he'd take the dog to a "dog dentist" and have his teeth filed down.
The girl told police the dog is well behaved and doesn't bite.
A veterinarian who examined the dog when he was brought in to be neutered in December 2006 noticed the filed-down teeth but didn't report the abuse to police because "she had a hard time believing that somebody would actually hold down a dog and file his teeth down," court records state.
Eichelberger later mentioned to an employee that the hospital should offer the tooth filing service "so dogs can't bite little girls." After that, the veterinarian felt sure Eichelberger had filed Clark's teeth, court records state. References
« More cases in Lake County, IN
|
