Wasn’t it Mahatma Gandhi who said that “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated?” Well, it seems that Benton County residents want pets to be loved and cared for judging by the huge amount of recent social media posts lamenting the apparent abuse of a Warsaw dog.
People passing by a residence near the Warsaw laundromat spotted what looked like a bulldog suffering from hunger, cold weather and a swollen head, apparently badly infected. One woman in particular, Cathy Menninga, who was in Warsaw to do grocery shopping, spotted the dog and saw that it's chain was wrapped around a tree preventing it from getting into it's doghouse. She tried to help it and is aggrieved that it suffered so long.
“I went by a day later and his water was frozen, he had no food, his head was swollen, he had open sores, and he was skeletal,” said Menninga. “He wasn’t a watchdog because he was friendly to me. I took him a blanket, fed him and chipped away at the frozen water in his bowl. Apparently, people have knocked on the door of the residence where the dog is located and been turned away. I was willing to take it to a veterinarian to treat, or, if necessary, put down. But without help from law enforcement I could have been in trouble for trespassing. On Monday morning (December 2) I went by the dog’s house again and he wasn’t there. I checked the vets in town, and none had seen the dog. They told me that a dog in that condition would have been an emergency, and they’d had no emergencies. There were nearly 200 posts on Benton County Chatter and Benton County Beat Monday morning about the dog. If they (owners of the dog) saw the posts, they knew police, mayor, councilmen, etc. knew and things were escalating….”
However, there is no animal shelter in Warsaw, so where would it go? The last animal shelter in the city was closed in 2005. Critters ‘N Crisis, an animal foster program, began working with 4H in 2012 to try and reduce the risk of lost and abandoned animals being more susceptible to harm in cold winter months. The group hoped to build an animal shelter, but that project never materialized. Menninga attended the December 2 Warsaw City Council meeting to speak out about the need for ordnances that work for the benefit of animals and to bring awareness of the recurring problem to the city's attention.
Another problem in Benton County has to do with vicious dogs who are a danger to people. For sheriff’s deputies to charge someone with keeping a dangerous dog, and/or for attacking someone, there needs to be a county ordinance and a charge code. Sheriff Eric Knox said his office has written such an ordinance and it is now in the hands of the County Commission and Prosecuting Attorney who will meet this week to talk about the charge code.
According to www.stateregstoday.com/health/animal-welfare, Missouri has a mandatory reporting requirement for suspected cases of animal cruelty. Anyone who witnesses or suspects animal abuse or neglect is required to report it to their local law enforcement agency or the state’s animal welfare office. This case has been reported to Humane Society of Missouri Cruelty Task Force (314-647-4400) as well as to Benton County Central Dispatch (911), (660) 438-9555.
Chapter 578.012 of 2023 Missouri Revised Statutes states (in part) that having ownership or custody of an animal knowingly failing to provide adequate care which results in substantial harm to the animal is Animal Abuse. It is a class A misdemeanor, unless the defendant has previously been found guilty of animal abuse or the suffering involved…. resulting from torture or mutilation consciously inflicted while the animal was alive, in which case is a class E felony.
www.bing.com reports that animal abuse is a serious problem in the U.S. Annually, over 10 million animals in the U.S. are abused to death. Dogs comprise 65 percent of all abused animals.
www.humanesociety.org reports that intentional cruelty to animals is strongly correlated with other crimes, including violence against people. Surveys suggest that those who intentionally abuse animals are predominantly men under 30 while those involved in animal hoarding are more likely to be women over 60.
