Dog starved, found frozen to ground on tether
Clarinda, IA (US)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Mar 3, 2010
County: Page

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Kevin Ray Meads

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

On the way to school March 3, children walking along East Clark Street in Clarinda stumbled upon something no child should see -- the remains of a two-year-old St. Bernard, thin in appearance and frozen to the ground.

Since that discovery more than one month ago, Kevin Ray Meads, 35, of Clarinda has been charged with one count of animal cruelty, a simple misdemeanor.

Marilyn Shore, volunteer with the Southwest Iowa Humane Society in Clarinda, said she received an initial report about the dog in late February from the grandmother of the children.

“The children reported it to the grandmother who called me directly,” said Shore. “There had been a little bit of a warm up in late February when the kids first noticed it, but they could not tell me the exact address. We went to look for the dog, but because of the blowing snow, couldn’t find it -- it was well covered in the snow.”

On March 3, Shore said the grandmother called her again, this time with an address.

According to the Clarinda Police report, an officer was dispatched to 327 E. Clark Street in Clarinda March 3. Clarinda Public Works Director Kelly Parrott also went to the residence and located the deceased dog in a curled position and tethered to a tree with a log chain wrapped around four trees that were sticking up. The dog was frozen to the ground

Once the dog was removed from the residence, it was taken to a Clarinda veterinarian where it was determined the dog was “severely malnourished.”

On March 31, Page County Attorney Jeremy Peterson filed trial information against Meads.

“Trial information is like a grand jury indictment, only it’s just approved by a district court judge,” explained Bruce Swanson, who was named special prosecuting attorney to the case by Fourth District Judge J.C. Irvin April 12. “Charges are filed and minutes of testimony are reviewed by a district court judge, who then makes a determination whether there is sufficient probable cause to bind it over to district court for trial.”

It was Fourth District Judge Timothy O’Grady who approved the trial information, however, when Peterson discovered an in-house conflict with the case, Irvin appointed Swanson to the case.

On April 12, attorney Seth Baldwin filed a written arraignment and plea of not guilty on behalf of Means.

“The next scheduled court date, not necessarily a court appearance, is May 10 for a pretrial conference, where the court is advised by council that there will be a plea entered or it will be continued to the next date, which is the trial date set right now for May 25 in front of a jury,” Swanson explained.

Baldwin explained the dog, large in size, had a tendency to break the link on the chain attached to the collar and run off. Baldwin said when Meads didn’t see the dog on the chain he assumed the dog had run off again.

As for the veterinarian’s report on the dog appearing to be malnourished, Meads told Baldwin he fed the dog regularly, but the dog went through phases where he wouldn’t eat.

“He looked back in the back yard and he (dog) wasn’t there and he thought he’d broke the link in the chain and ran off, so he didn’t think anything about it,” said Baldwin.

If guilty, Swanson said Meads could serve a maximum of one year in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000.

Swanson added he was unaware if Meads has had any prior charges with animal neglect.

Case Updates

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