Tip leads to potential suspect in Jackson County animal abuse case

JACKSON, Mich. (WILX) - Jackson County Animal Control says a tip has led them to the owner of a truck connected to a case of animal abuse.

Tuesday night, the tip came after Jackson County Animal Control asked for the public’s help. The shelter released surveillance video of the truck involved, a blue four-door Dodge Ram pickup. They were attempting to find the two people who threw two puppies over their fence in the early morning. They say the puppies were near death.

If the owners had contacted the shelter to surrender the puppies, instead of throwing them over the six-foot-tall unlocked fence, Senior Animal Control Officer Shawn Lutz says the owners could’ve avoided any charges for abuse and neglect.

“But they chose not to do that,” said Lutz. “No caring for the welfare of these little puppies at all, it might as well have been you know a bag of garbage that they were just throwing out on the side of the road.”

So starved and dehydrated they nearly died, the two six-month-old Huskies are now recovering at the Jackson County Animal Shelter. The brother and sister pair are fearful of humans. They have old wounds, bruises, and urine-stained fur, but they’re still accepting of attention and love.

They’ll continue to heal at the shelter, before being fostered out and eventually adopted.

“They didn’t have a lot of positive experiences from what we can tell,” said Misty Sumner, the Jackson County Animal Shelter Veterinarian. “I think they will make it out to be great dogs, but I think a lot of love, patience, and time, is gonna be needed for them.”

Disgusted by the lack of care, Officer Lutz says the driver’s speedy get-away indicates they knew what they did was wrong. Employees say they were shocked to see the security video, and want people to know if you contact the shelter surrendering is an option.

“If they had just come in at 10:00 this morning when we were open, and said ‘We’ve got two puppies and we don’t know what to do with them, we can’t care for them’ whatever the story is, we would’ve gladly helped them out and taken these two puppies off their hands. Potentially all the penalties could’ve been avoided. "

Now, the owners could potentially be charged with abandonment, neglect, abuse, and more.

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