In August of 1998, Scott F. Lenhardt said he thought he was doing the right thing for his dog, Spooky, who was suffering with heartworms. He told his 17-year-old son, Dusty, to put Spooky out of his misery by hitting him on the head with an ax handle Aug. 10.
But Fulton police say that what the Lenhardts did to Spooky was an act of animal cruelty, not a mercy killing.
Scott Lenhardt, 46, and Dusty Lenhardt, both of C118 Riverscape Apartments, Fulton, are scheduled to appear Wednesday in City Court on misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty. Fulton police charged Scott Lenhardt with another count of animal cruelty for failure to provide proper care to Spooky and a count of harboring an unlicensed dog.
Scott Lenhardt said he loved Spooky, whom he raised from a puppy. On his last day, the dog could barely walk or breathe, he said. He said he has been around dogs all his life, and heartworm was a devastating disease without a cure.
"When you see a dog on the side of the road that's been hit by a car and it's looking up at you and its legs are shaking, what do you do?"Scott Lenhardt asked. "The humane thing would be to take a gun, or, if you don't have a gun, take a rock and put it out of its misery. That's what I've done here with Spooky."
He said Spooky, an 8-year-old American bull terrier, began having health problems shortly after Lenhardt and his three children moved to Fulton from North Carolina in November. When Spooky's condition worsened, he took him to a veterinarian, who told him Spooky appeared to have heartworm. The family gave Spooky heartworm medicine and helped him get around.
"We pampered that dog," Lenhardt said.
One day, after Spooky rolled over onto his side and couldn't get back on his feet, Scott Lenhardt said enough was enough. "His back legs were so big, he couldn't walk," Scott Lenhardt said. "His front legs were starting to expand."
They decided as a family to end Spooky's suffering.
"We put a blanket over his head, said some prayers for him and we popped him with a piece of wood," Lenhardt said.
The Lenhardts buried Spooky behind their apartment, placed a marker and said some more prayers. On Monday, police filed the animal cruelty charges after a two-week investigation.
"I'm a professional," said Scott Lenhardt, a tree surgeon. "My kids go to Fulton schools, and they're doing well. The Fulton police makes us sound like we're the Charles Manson family, going out there killing dogs. This was a family thing.
"As far as I'm concerned, they desecrated his grave when they dug him up," he said.
Lenhardt said he paid an extra $20 per month on rent to keep Spooky. "I loved that dog to death," he said. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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