Dog beaten with hammer
Bolton, NH (US)Date: Apr 29, 1999
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Thomas G. Campbell
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A Bolton man accused of beating a dog with a hammer faces an animal cruelty charge from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Thomas G. Campbell, 47, of 101 Nashaway Road, killed a 2-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback May 29 after repeatedly striking it with a hammer, according to court documents. The dog had recently bitten an 8-year-old boy, and Campbell, hoping to appease Bolton officials who wanted to quarantine the dog, took the matter into his own hands, according to an MSPCA police report on file in Clinton District Court.
"By his own admission he felt the dog would have died with the first blow," MSPCA Officer Zita Macinanti said yesterday. "That's exactly why people can't go around killing dogs their own way, because they're not capable of doing it in a humane way."
Besides animal cruelty, Campbell faces a host of charges stemming from his keeping 11 dogs in an old bus. On June 1, police from four agencies, concerned about the conditions in which the dogs were being kept, confiscated them after a six-hour standoff on Nashaway Road, according to court documents.
The standoff was nonviolent and was prolonged by Campbell's refusal to leave the bus, Macinanti said. He allegedly told authorities they'd have to shoot him before he'd give up his dogs.
Campbell was arraigned on many charges yesterday during his arraignment in Clinton District Court. He pleaded not guilty, and was released on personal recognizance. His court-appointed lawyer, Edward M. Sheridan, declined to comment on the case.
Campbell's dogs have since been returned to him, Macinanti said. Rhodesian Ridgebacks are short-haired, long-bodied dogs. They can be identified by a crest of reversed hair along the spine.
Bolton dog officer Angela J. Nickerson sought criminal complaints against Campbell for 11 counts of failing to license a dog, five counts of violating a dog order and one count of obstructing an animal inspector's duties. Campbell denies those charges.
Bolton officials contacted the MSPCA after Campbell told Bolton Animal Inspector Helen L. Roach that he had killed his dog with a hammer, according to the report by Macinanti. The Bolton boy who was bit May 29 was the fifth person to be bitten by one of Campbell's dogs in three months, according to Macinanti.
After the boy was bitten, Campbell assured Roach he would take care of the dog on his own, Macinanti wrote in her report.
"Mr. Campbell apparently followed through with his threat and called Ms. Roach the next day to pick up a bag with the dog's brains in it," Macinanti wrote. "Mr. Campbell went on to say he had hoped he could have killed the dog with the first blow, but in fact it had taken several blows for the dog to die."
On June 1, Macinanti, Acting Police Chief Celia Hyde, an environmental police officer and two officers from Bolton confronted Campbell as he sat in his bus on Nashaway Road. Eventually the state police were called.
"He refused to let us take his dogs and told us we would have to shoot him in order to remove the dogs," Macinanti wrote in her report.
After much negotiation, officers were able to apprehend Campbell and collect the dogs.
Macinanti said yesterday the prolonged standoff, although frustrating at the time, was due to the uncertainty of Campbell's intentions. At one point, he threatened the officers and threw the skin of a dog out the window, she wrote.
"We're trying to enforce the law," she said. "If someone doesn't want to cooperate, we hope to work with them and we hope they calm down after a particular time." References« Back to Search Results
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