Animal Neglect Summons Issued After Two Vicious Dogs Killed in Wyaconda
Animal Neglect Summons Issued After Two Vicious Dogs Killed in Wyaconda
Two dogs with a history of being vicious were killed by a Wyaconda man last Monday, after the animals attacked his miniature donkeys and threatened he and his wife.
Chris Sprouse of Wyaconda said he first encountered the two dogs, a boxer and a boxer/pit bull mix, on his porch Sunday evening.
“My dogs were carrying on outside, and these dogs were on my porch. I ran them off, but they were bold,” Sprouse said.
The next morning, Sprouse found that his miniature donkeys had been attacked.
“My wife found the dogs still in the barn,” he said. The dogs were aggressive towards his wife, he said. After getting her to safety, he borrowed a neighbors rifle and returned to shoot the dogs.
He then took the injured donkey to Kahoka Veterinary Clinic, and contacted the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
The dogs had been released from the Memphis City dog pound just days before, after they had impounded by police officers using a tranquilizer gun to stop them from harassing livestock.
According to Clark County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Robert Becker, the dogs were released to their owner, Patricia Gordy, because she was moving out of Memphis. She took them to her ex-husband, Troy Gordy, in Wyaconda. The dogs got out, and Gordy could not locate them, according to Becker.
Becker has since received reports from other Wyaconda residents that the dogs harassed their animals.
Becker said he would be issuing a summons to Troy Gordy on charges of “Animal Abuse and Neglect By Allowing Animals To Run A Large”, which is a Class A misdemeanor.
“People need to know that they have to keep control of their animals,” Becker said. “We have been getting a lot of calls lately, and we can write summons.”
Asked about what people can do if confronted by a vicious dog, Becker said, “They have a right to protect their property and person if the animal is destroying livestock or they are in imminent danger.”
