Owner lies about dog’s duct-taped mouth and slit throat for free vet care, Ohio cops say
A person reported finding a dog with its mouth duct-taped shut and throat slit while walking in rural Ohio, police say.
It was an “appalling” case of animal abuse that Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones vowed to solve.
“This is appalling, words cannot describe the disgust I’m feeling right now, we will work diligently to find who did this and seek justice,” Jones wrote on Facebook.
But it was all fake.
A person initially told investigators the injured dog was found along the side of the road on Saturday, Aug. 17, according to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office. Its muzzle was taped shut and throat cut, the person said.
The dog was rushed to the veterinarian for treatment and a chip traced back to an animal shelter in Cincinnati, police said. The Sheriff’s Office later posted about the case on Facebook in a plea for help.
Over a thousand Facebook users shared the post and hundreds more commented about the dog. Pictures in the Facebook post showed a cut to the dog’s neck and a red muzzle.
The Sheriff’s Office updated concerned residents Saturday and told them the dog’s name is Dani.
“The Sheriff loves animals and takes cases like this very serious,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote. “As far as adopting her, we are working on getting her better right now.”
By Monday, the Sheriff’s Office announced that the animal shelter where Dani had been adopted paid for her veterinary bills.
“We continue to work diligently to find the person responsible for this abuse and hold them accountable,” Jones wrote. “We thank you all for your support and kind words for Dani and all the other abused animals we have investigated.”
Just hours later, the Sheriff’s Office said it had uncovered a twist in the case.
The person who reported that Dani’s mouth was duct-taped shut was actually the dog’s owner, the Sheriff’s Office said. The owner told investigators that Dani had cut her neck on a barbed-wire fence, according to the Facebook post.
The owner also told detectives that the dog’s muzzle wasn’t taped shut, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Rather, the owner kept Dani’s mouth muzzled for “several hours a day” because the dog chewed items in the home and was aggressive toward another dog, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office said the neck injury was not intentional and the report of Dani’s muzzle being taped was concocted to get free veterinary care.
“After the investigation was completed it was determined that this incident did not occur in Butler County, but we will make a joint effort to work with the adjacent jurisdiction to ensure this case is dealt with appropriately,” Jones wrote on Facebook.