Authorities have no plans to pursue charges against a Mississippi animal control officer suspected of shooting dogs and dumping their carcasses — more than 100 of them — into a creek.
A Madison County grand jury recommended Alzonzo Esco, who worked for the city of Canton, be tried on misdemeanor animal cruelty and illegal dumping charges.
District Attorney Michael Guest, however, said an arrest warrant couldn’t be issued until signed statements from police investigators were turned in.
And that’s not likely to happen. Canton Police Chief Vickie McNeill said she will not authorize her investigator to file the paperwork because he did not actually see Esco commit any crimes, the Madison County Herald reported.
“There are standards regarding a felony, and there are standards regarding a misdemeanor,” McNeill said. “By the standards of a misdemeanor, you must actually see the crime in action to file an affidavit. None of the officers saw any of the dogs having anything being done to them.
“At this point, I don’t see any further action being taken on it,” she said, but if somebody brings it to my attention that there is a way, I’m willing to listen.”
Esco, who worked as an animal control officer in Canton for three years, was fired by the Board of Aldermen on McNeill’s recommendation.
A former animal control officer in Hoosick, N.Y., admitted in court last week that he shot and killed stray or loose dogs and buried them in a manure pile on his farm.
Matthew Beck, 46, pleaded guilty to official misconduct, larceny, cruelty to animals and violating environmental regulations.
According to the Albany Times Union, he will spend 10 days confined to home with a monitoring device, two weekends in jail and be placed on three years’ probation.
The case began last spring when a local resident, April Stevens, learned that Beck had picked up her two missing dogs. The dogs never showed up in the local animal shelter, though.
Investigators went to Beck’s farm, dug through his manure pile and discovered several dog carcasses, including two skulls with bullet holes which were determined to have been owned by another resident. Stevens’ dogs were never found but Beck pleaded guilty to the larceny charge in connection to their disappearance, as well as other misdemeanors.
“This is not what we really wanted. We wanted to see him do some real jail time,” said Stevens, who was wearing pictures of her dogs pinned to her shirt. “At least there is some jail time to give him an opportunity to think about what he did.”
A California man was treated and released after being shot in the back by his dog.
The unidentified 53-year-old man was hunting in Merced County when he set the safety on his loaded shotgun and put it on the ground while he grabbed his decoy ducks, according to the Fresno Bee.
Merced County sheriff’s officials say the hunter’s black Lab stepped on the loaded shotgun, causing the safety to release and the gun to fire.
They left the choppers at home (too cold), but members of Rescue Ink arrived in Pennsylvania Friday to help search for the killer of a Chester County family’s two dogs — and promote their TV show at the same time.
The tattooed stars of National Geographic’s TV show “Rescue Ink Unleashed” greeted fans at the Chester County SPCA, and later Friday night at a town hall meeting.
Then they set out to search for the killer of Emma and Luna, two dogs found slain in October.
The dogs were reported missing from a Pocopson Township farm on Oct. 25 and were found later that day several miles away in Pennsbury Township by a resident walking in the woods near railroad tracks along the Brandywine Creek, Britton said. The dogs were shot between the eyes and lined up tail to tail.
Rescue Ink had this message for the perpetrator: “Come find us before we find you.”
Joe Panz, one of the members, said the group plans to spend several days canvassing Chester County neighborhoods. “We’re street guys; we know how to get information from people,” he said.
Members of the New York-based group chatted with visitors at the SPCA Friday, many of them members of the animal-rescue community, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Anyone with information about Emma and Luna is asked to call the Chester County SPCA at 610-692-6113, Ext. 213. A $50,000 reward has been posted.
(Photo: Courtesy of National Geographic Channel)
The reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever shot and killed two dogs in Pennsylvania has reached $50,000, the Chester County SPCA said yesterday — and the gang at Rescue Ink has joined in the investigation.
The reward fund was established last October after the two family pets were found near the railroad tracks along Brandywine Creek in Pennsbury Township. Both had been shot between the eyes at close range.
Emma, a one-and-a-half-year-old German shorthaired pointer, and Luna, a two-year-old mix of the same breed, had been placed tail to tail, said Rich Britton, spokesman for the Chester County SPCA. The two dogs were reported missing from a Pocopson Township farm Oct. 25.
Today, the search for the killer will get an additional boost from Rescue Ink, a group of tattooed animal rescuers who appear on National Geographic Channel’s Rescue Ink Unleashed, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Rescue Ink, which targets animals in danger, will participate in a news conference today at 2 p.m. and meet with the public from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Chester County SPCA, 1212 Phoenixville Pike, West Chester. A town-hall meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Chadds Ford Historical Society, 1736 Creek Rd.
