Animal Cruelty Investigation Underway Sunday
By Andy Banker FOX2now.com
April 10, 2011
ST. CHARLES COUNTY, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com)—
Mushroom hunters made an alarming discovery in St. Charles County, Saturday: a dog, stuffed into a small cage and apparently left to die. The sheriff's department began an animal cruelty investigation Sunday.
Clayton Price of St. Charles County was hunting morel mushrooms with his cousin about 3:00 p.m. Saturday on Dresser Island, between West Alton, Missouri, and Alton, Illinois, in the Mississippi River.
"We went out the woods, came back about 6:00-6:30p.m., saw the dog crate there," Price said.
"It's heartless. It's very disturbing that someone would think this was ok."
They found the crate on the edge of the Dresser Island access parking lot. There was no crate there when the pair left the lot looking for mushrooms.
"I was hoping [the crate] was empty, but then you walk up to the cage, you could still see something was in there. We just couldn't believe it at first."
It appeared to be an Aussie Shepherd mix, still on its St. Louis Cardinals leash, with a micro chip and ID tags. Animal control responded, along with the sheriff's department, and David and Kelly Backes of the St. Charles Humane Society, just a few hours after David finished his last game of the season for the St. Louis Blues the night before.
"Three hours of sleep last night or not, if I'm not going to stand up or other people are not going to stand up even when you're tired. This guy's life is now gone, but hopefully it's not in vain," David Backes said. "If there's help needed in the animal world, my wife and I are more than willing to come and put our best foot forward and use the platform I've been given as a St. Louis Blue, to give these animals a voice."
A number of things suggested possible foul play: the dog was bleeding from its nose and mouth and there was feces in the cage. Perhaps more than anything, there was that cage itself.
"The way it's been crammed - that looks like a cat carrier to me - the way it's been crammed in there," said Sgt. Jeff Ochs of the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department. "It doesn't even look like the dog fits."
"I'd like to see whoever did it, pay," Price said. "I think somebody was mad at somebody and this was the way to get to them. There's other ways to solve that. This isn't the dog' fault."
"It's the definition of cruelty," Backes said. "This animal was stuffed in a tiny cage. It's dead. Again, it's very disturbing. Hopefully we can find some justice for this dog."
Investigators hoped tracking those clues left with the dog would lead them to whoever left it to die.
A vet will perform a necropsy Monday to determine the cause of death.
Anyone who may have seen a suspicious person or vehicle near dresser island in St. Charles County Saturday afternoon, should report it to the St. Charles County sheriff's department or CrimeStoppers at (866)371-8477.
http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-dead-dogs-st-charles-hunters-41011,0,5155714.story
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