Dog walked until dead of heat exhaustion
Stuart, FL (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Sep 17, 2002
County: Martin
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Billy Phillip Brewer
Billy Phillip Brewer, 28, of 498 S.E. Madrid Street was held at a Martin County jail in lieu of $500 bail.
Brewer was arrested on a charge of animal cruelty for allegedly forcing a dog to walk several miles until it died of heat exhaustion. Bamboo, was a mixed breed retriever which collapsed and died on a walk Sept 17. Witnesses at a service station on northwest Dixie Highway north of the old Roosevelt Bridge reported the incident.
Brewer was seen to try and force the dog to stand after it collapsed. Then he tried to drag it along when the dog was in bad shape and suffering. The witnesses provided shelter and water but the dog died before Animal Control officers could get to the scene.
It is aproximately 3 miles from where he lives to where the dog finally died. The temperature was 87 degrees with a heat index of 102.
The Animal Control officer, Sergeant Mike Ewing, said the charge was a misdemeanor rather than a felony because it seems Brewer doesn't understand how to properly care for an animal and that he didn't intend to hurt the dog.
Sgt Ewing is asking the civil court judge to order the Brewer family be prohibited from having any animals in the future.
Billy Brewer Sr, was investigated in 1999 after a dog was found starved to death in a pen behind his home. A second dog in poor condition was removed and turned over the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast.
In 2001, animal control officers found two more dogs at the home in a pen without food and water and those dog were also impounded and turned over the Humane Society.
References- Palm Beach FL Post - Oct 11, 2002
- Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel - Oct 11, 2002
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