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Owner accused of starving dog that died hours after it was taken
Friday, March 28, 2008
MIDDLETOWN — A Middletown father and son men spent Thursday night in jail after the pet pit bull they're accused of neglecting died hours after it was seized.
The dog was kept chained in the back yard of a home in the 300 block of Moore Street.
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This pit bull terrier died hours after it was seized from a Middletown home Tuesday, March 25. According to authorities, the dog had been chained outside in the back yard, was malnourished and died of an apparent grand mal seizure despite resuscitation efforts. A second dog also was removed from the home.
Brian Barrett
B.G. Barrett"She was really bad — very malnourished," said Liz Lucas, Middletown animal control officer. "She had some serious neurological issues. She would shake so bad there was no way for her to eat or drink."
Lucas took the dog to the Animal Friends Humane Society in Trenton Tuesday, March 25, where staffers were able to feed the dog by hand. But two hours after arriving, the dog suffered a grand mal seizure and died, despite resuscitation efforts, Lucas said.
A second pit bull at the home, which wasn't malnourished, was taken in by relatives of the men.
The dog's owner, Brian Barrett, 27, and his father, B.G. Barrett, 52, both were charged with cruelty to companion animals. Brian Barrett also was charged with two counts each of improper confinement, no liability insurance, improper chaining and unlicensed dogs.
Leland Gordon, executive director of Animal Friends, said the men treated the dog like a "lawn ornament" and he hopes Thursday night won't be the only one they spend in jail.
"A dog doesn't get that thin overnight," he said. "You could see all its bones."
Gordon said his shelter provides assistance to people who are having trouble feeding their cats and dogs.
Lucas was glad that at least the pit bull didn't die alone.
"She was so sweet," she said. "For the last two hours of her life, she got loved on."
Contact this reporter at (513)
705
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2511
or
dwells
@
coxohio.com.
