Police officer charged with beating his two dogs-judge returns dogs to him!

A Newport News police officer has been charged with two counts of animal cruelty following complaints that he beat his two dogs.

According to a criminal complaint filed at General District Court, Rashad I. Brown, 32, a Newport News police officer since June 2005, admitted that he beat his dogs — a black Labrador retriever and a Boston terrier — with a hard plastic stick.

"He stated ... that it is not against the law to beat your dogs or kids in Virginia, (and that) he knows this because he is a cop," said the complaint, filed by Newport News Animal Control Officer Angie Gromlich.

William S. Wise, the superintendent of animal services, said in a statement that a call came into the city's animal control division on March 8. The caller said he or she witnessed a man kicking one of his dogs and heard him beating another at his apartment on St. Thomas Drive, in the Oyster Point area.

Upon responding to the scene, Brown encouraged his Lab, "Lilly," to act aggressively toward her, Gromlich wrote in the complaint.

First, she said, he commanded his dog in Spanish to come out of the apartment and get near the animal control officer. The dog obeyed, growling aggressively, the complaint said.

The animal control officer said she then asked Brown "several times" to confine the dog inside.

Instead, with the dog's nose only two or three inches from the animal control officer, Brown "was laughing and reinforced (the dog's) aggressive behavior" by telling her 'Good girl, good girl," in English, the complaint said.

"Mr. Brown stated that she was doing what she was supposed to do, that he had trained her to be aggressive, and this is what he wanted her to do," Gromlich wrote.

The animal control officer said in the complaint that she felt cornered and feared the dog would attack her.

Brown finally placed the dog inside, the complaint said. Gromlich and another animal control officer seized both animals from the property, and took them to a veterinarian.

Fresh abrasions and bruises on the dogs were "consistent with being struck by an object and kicked," Gromlich wrote.

Brown, who is a patrol officer for the Newport News Police Department, has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. He is scheduled to appear in General District Court on March 26.

A woman living in the apartment, Crystal Brown, was charged with one count each of having no license for a dog and no rabies vaccination, Wise said. Police spokesman Lou Thurston said that Brown, who patrols in the city's north precinct, is still on duty.


Brown now faces two counts of animal cruelty, according to court records. Those are Class 1 misdemeanors, carrying a maximum of 12 months in jail and a fine up to $2,500.


In addition to those penalties, the court might require someone convicted of animal cruelty to "attend an anger management or other appropriate treatment program or obtain psychiatric or psychological counseling," according to state code.

Brown was at Thursday's General District Court hearing, during which Judge Alfred O. Masters, Jr. determined to return the dogs.

"The law requires a hearing after a short period of time after the seizure (of the dogs)," Chief Deputy City Attorney Allen Jackson said. "The judge made the decision."

The charges are state code violations but could become city code violations, instead.

"We expect we will become involved," Jackson said.

After the incident, the two dogs were removed and taken to a veterinarian, who found "fresh abrasions and bruising consistent with being struck with an object and kicked," according to the complaint.

Brown, who's been with the Police Department since 2005, is scheduled to appear in General District Court on March 26. He's the sixth Newport News police officer since August to face criminal charges.



Sources:
http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/15346/VA/US/
http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/dp-local_nnanimal

Woman fined $650 for feeding cats!

Catherine Bradley, a feral cat advocate in Florida has been fined $650 ($150 for administrative costs and $500 for her second offense) for allegedly feeding feral cats, unauthorized. Town code only allows feeders from Palm Beach to feed the town's feral cats.

Apparently, Officer Adam Zeller had nothing better to do when he stood on his police car to watch Bradley "place three servings of wet cat food on the pavement...around 4:30 am." Bradley claims she is not guilty of unauthorized feeding. She said she had permission of the caretaker to monitor the cats. This is a managed colony, the cats have been TNR'd (Trap Neuter Release). They are fed and given water and monitored for health and given shelter possibly (it's warm in Florida).

In October, she was found in violation of the same law.

If I lived in that town, I would be very upset. A police officer cares so much about this woman feeding cats that he must have been checking up on her or following her. He stood on his police car to watch her. Aren't there murderers and rapists to catch?

This police officer needs to get a life and go out and fight "real" crime. A woman feeding a cat is not a crime. Some towns are archaic and ignorant and do have laws against feeding cats. That is not the case here. The people in this town can feed the cats. The crime this woman "committed" is being from the wrong area in Florida to feed the cats. How ridiculous!



palmbeachdailynews.com

Someone is dumping dead and decapitated dogs in cemetery in Kansas City.

Dogs found dumped at cemetery
Jackson County Sheriff searching for answers

The Examiner

The Jackson County Sheriff's Department is asking for assistance from the community to help them find out who is dumping dead dogs in an Eastern Jackson County cemetery.

Over the last six months, Floral Hills Cemetery, in the 25200 block of U.S. 50, east of Lee's Summit in unincorporated Jackson County, has reported finding dead dogs on its property. Some the deceased dogs show no visible cause of death, while others have been decapitated.

Anyone with information can call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS or the Jackson County Sheriff's Office Investigations Unit at 816-524-4302.

The Spay and Neuter Association of Greater Kansas City, as well as other organizations, are offering reward money for information in the case that leads to an arrest and conviction of the perpetrator.