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| Sassy |
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| Source |
| Case Written By Lynn Walker PTI Writer |
| The beating death of a pet cat by a police officer who said he suspected it was rabid prompted dozens of angry telephone calls Wednesday to the Angleton Police Department. The cat, a Siamese named Sassy belonging to Paul Balallard, had wandered from her home Monday afternoon. A nearby resident called authorities to report she was hissing and foaming at the mouth, police said. This condition is also indicative of heat stroke. Officer Edward Rape killed the cat with a shovel, but found out later she belonged to a family down the street that had been looking for her, officers said. The Ballard family is holding Sassy's body for a necropsy. Rape was not yet reprimanded. He presently serves as the department's canine officer, and responded to the call because a city humane officer was not available, Rickman said. IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? Doesn't any animal control officer know that an animal needs to be checked at the facility before determination is made about whether it will be euthanized? And when does the law allow an animal to be bludgeoned with a shovel to be "put down"? |
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| Update |
| Aug. 14, 2001 DA won't charge officers who beat cat with shovel By STEVE OLAFSON Houston Chronicle ANGLETON -- Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne declined to file charges Monday against an Angleton police officer who beat a family's cat to death with a shovel. Officials with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals criticized Yenne's decision, saying the officer violated animal cruelty law. Yenne, a former board member of the SPCA in Brazoria County, said Officer Ed Rape believed the cat posed a danger when it hissed and bared its fangs at a neighboring family July 23. The neighbors called police. The cat had escaped from its home, and Rape said he feared it might be rabid. A necropsy showed the cat, a Siamese named Sassy that was about 14, was not diseased. Rape had been dispatched because the city humane officer was off duty. Yenne said Angleton officials plan to provide an animal control officer on a 24-hour basis. |
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| Please contact Angleton, Texas D.A. Jeri Yenne, and ask her to reconsider her decision not to prosecute Officer Rape for killing Sassy. Phone: (979) 864-1230 Fax: (979) 864-1525 |