A Dallas man was charged with felony cruelty to animals after he was videotaped encouraging two of his pit bulls to fatally maul a neighbor's dog, city officials said.
Carey D. McMillian, 22, was arrested after Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals officials gave the videotape to Dallas police, said Scott Tims, a city spokesman.
Mr. McMillian posted $3,500 bail on the charge, but he remained in jail Wednesday night on unrelated charges and could not be reached for comment.
If convicted on the cruelty charge, he could face up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
A witness, who has not been identified, videotaped Mr. McMillian on Sept. 25 as he encouraged the pit bulls to attack a neighbor's Australian shepherd-mix dog in the 10400 block of Castlerock Drive in Pleasant Grove, said Dave Garcia of the SPCA.
The video showed the two pit bulls mauling the dog while Mr. McMillian watched, Mr. Garcia said.
The tape also showed Mr. McMillian dragging the dog by its hind legs into an alley after the attack, Mr. Garcia said.
"During the whole time the dog is still alive," Mr. Garcia said. "You can hear it screaming as they are mauling it, gasping for air and whimpering as he dragged it off and into the alley."
Kent Robertson, division manager of Dallas Animal Services, who has been investigating complaints of animal cruelty for about 30 years, said he suspected that Mr. McMillian was training the dogs to fight.
"That's what I think was going on there, but it's alleged at this point, so we'll see what the evidence shows," he said.
According to witness reports, Mr. McMillian put the dog in the yard, Mr. Robertson said.
He said people who train dogs to fight sometimes use small dogs and cats to bait their dogs into becoming more aggressive.
A hearing within the next 10 days will determine what will be done with one of the pit bulls and seven puppies, which are now at a city shelter, Mr. Robertson said. Mr. McMillian told authorities the other pit bull was dead. Case UpdatesA 23-year-old Dallas man who unleashed his two pit bull terriers on a neighbor's dog and watched as they mauled the hound-Dalmatian mix has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $14,000.
Carey D. McMillian received the maximum possible sentence on Wednesday at the animal-cruelty trial.
A witness to the September 2003 attack in Pleasant Grove described seeing McMillian goad his dogs to attack and ultimately kill the dog named Cisco.
"The only reason for killing Cisco was for his own perverse pleasure," lead prosecutor Rick Jackson said in closing arguments. "This case cries out for the max."
When the panting and exhausted pit bills let up, McMillian would grab Cisco and shake the dog to provoke the pit bulls to "tear the dog apart," the neighbor said.
A neighbor surreptitiously videotaped a portion of the attack. Jurors watched the tape three times before deliberating for 30 minutes and returning a guilty verdict.
The charge of animal cruelty carries a maximum punishment of two years in a state jail, but the offense was enhanced to a third-degree felony after prosecutors proved that state law could define the two dogs as "deadly weapons," The Dallas Morning News reports in its Thursday editions.
Jurors also found McMillian guilty of a lesser misdemeanor charge of dog fighting.
"This happens every day, but in most cases it's not caught on tape," Ken Qualls, an investigator with the SPCA of Texas, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for its Thursday editions. "This shows that behavior like this will not be tolerated." | Source: The Denton Record-Chronicle - Sept 2, 2004
Update posted on Sep 2, 2004 - 4:21AM |
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