 Dogs abandoned for 10 days, owner on vacation
Brooklyn, MI (US)Incident Date: Monday, Mar 7, 2005
County: Jackson
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Todd Carl Tishrock
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Warrants have been authorized charging a Brooklyn man with nine misdemeanor charges, after three Labrador retrievers were left locked in a house while he went away on vacation. The dog owner, identified as Todd Carl Tishrock, 42, went to Texas March 7.
Warrants have been authorized charging Tishrock with three counts each of cruelty/abandoning animals, having a dog with no license and failure to legally vaccinate a dog. He has not been arrested yet and no arraignment date has been set, according to officials at Lenawee County District Court.
According to a report released March 28 by the Lenawee County Sheriff's Department, Animal Control Officer Gina Meadows went to the house at 11:30 a.m. on March 18. She heard the dogs barking and jumping around inside the house on Canal Drive, but no one answered the door. She left a note asking the homeowner to call her and left.
When Meadows returned March 23, she found the note still taped on the door, but heard nothing from inside the house. She applied for a search warrant and returned the next day with several other deputies, and they broke down a door to enter the house.
"The stench was so bad, the guys had to put on their gas masks," Meadows said. "I had to throw out my boots because I can't get the smell out."
The report noted the house was filled with dog feces, up to 6 inches deep in some places, and smelled strongly of feces and urine. The animals, two yellow labs and a black lab, were removed from the house. A plastic tub tilled with dog food was found in the house.
"They had plenty of food and water. In fact, they were obese," Meadows said.
Meadows said Tishrock had left a voice mail for her Monday morning, but she had not yet talked to him. The information will be turned over to the Lenawee County prosecutor's office for a determination on possible charges.
"I am definitely going after him for cruelty (to animals)," Meadows said.
An adult female yellow Lab, an adult male black Lab and a younger female yellow Lab were taken to the Addison Veterinary Clinic to be checked. But as they were being taken from the truck to the clinic, one of the dogs broke free and ran into the woods along North Rollin Highway.
Almost two weeks after she escaped, the dog is still in that area, Meadows said, but won't let anyone close.
"People say they still see her, but she won't let anyone close. I can't get close enough to shoot her with my dart gun," she said. "She is so scared. It's hard to imagine her state of mind."
The other two dogs are improving, Meadows added, noting the black Lab has become quite attached to her.
Neighbors told Meadows that they had never seen the dogs in the time Tishrock has lived in Brooklyn. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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