Dead puppy, nine live dogs removed from home

Cape Girardeau police removed 10 dogs, including a dead puppy, from a Middle Street home Tuesday afternoon.

The animals were discovered by a neighbor, who responded to the yelps of one dog only to find three more dogs tied up and five puppies running loose in the backyard of the home at 220 Middle St. The neighbor did not want to be identified for fear of possible reprisal. He said one female dog was unable to reach its water, so he pushed the pan closer.

"Then I saw the puppies and the dead one," he said, adding that he called the police immediately.

Ty Metzger, nuisance abatement supervisor for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, worked with Jaclyn Kelly, the city's part-time health officer to collect the animals, pausing to give the dogs water before loading them into trucks to bring them to the Humane Society.

The home appeared to be empty, though a child's bike and wading pool were in the backyard. The man who reported the animal neglect said a family has lived there for "about a year."

Metzger photographed the dogs. One male adult dog, unable to move more than a few inches after his tie became wrapped around a tree, was smeared with feces. One of the five surviving puppies had a gash nearly three inches long and a half-inch wide on its back. Metzger said the animals' owner would be cited of animal neglect and abuse.

He also said he planned to check with police detectives to determine the amount of time elapsed since the puppy had died. If it had been dead more than 24 hours, the owner could also face charges of failure to properly dispose of an animal carcass.

Requi Salter, a board member for the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri, was also at the scene. She said she was "so glad" the neighbor called police.

"Not everyone would take the time to do that and to care enough to do that. When they report it, we can do something," she said.

The animals' future will be determined by a judge, she said, who "will order whether [the dogs] have to go back to the people at this property, which we hope will not happen, or we will become their custodians."

Salter called Tuesday's incident "a tragedy."

According to the Greg Meffert, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service's office in Paducah, Ky., Tuesday's high temperature was 90 with winds gusting between 20 and 30 miles an hour.

"There is a big evaporational factor when it's warm and there's wind," he said. "On windy days when it's warm it can lead to greater dehydration rate in humans because of the evaporation of moisture off of the skin. I'm not sure if it's the same with animals or not."

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127

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Animal abuse

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