Johnny Huntley Toledo Police Departmenet
A dog was shot with a BB gun by his 25-year-old Toledo, Ohio owner for the sole purpose to “get it to come back inside,” a Toledo police report states.
Johnny Huntley, who lives in the 100 block of East Essex Street in East Toledo, has been charged with animal cruelty after shooting his dog multiple times with a BB gun on Wednesday, October 17th. A witness called the police and Huntley admitted what he did.
Mr. Huntley has only been charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty.
The police department investigating this crime doesn’t where the dog is or the condition of the injured dog.
His court date slated for earlier today was rescheduled for November 7th. His bond was set at $250.00.
Huntley was also arrested for an outstanding forgery warrant and was also found to have a credit or debit card that didn’t belong to him. He was charged with a felony forgery with his bond set at $5,000 in that case.
It appears hurting a leaving, breathing being doesn’t constitute a more serious charge than stealing a credit or debit card.
BB guns have the ability to cause serious damage and death to animals. Dogs have died after being shot by pellet (bb) guns. A dog was paralyzed after being hit by a pellet in his spine. It severed his spinal cord. He now uses a wheelchair which holds his hind legs. He also has to wear “diapers.” BB guns can and do kill animals. A misdemeanor charge is weak and is wrong considering the seriousness of the crime.
Just because all states have felony laws for animal abuse, it doesn’t mean most cases of cruelty utilize the law. In fact, most abusers still are only charged with a misdemeanor and receive a slap on the wrist for hurting or killing a companion animal. We still have a long way to go to strengthen our animal cruelty laws.
Ohio passed Goddard’s Law in 2016 which recognizes the most cruel animal abuse will be a fifth degree felony in which someone knowingly causes serious physical harm to a companion animal. This includes depriving a pet of food, water or shelter or inflicting long-term pain. It is meant for worst-case scenarios. It is a good law but it needs to extend to cover other forms of abuse.
Huntley’s use of a BB gun could’ve killed his dog. Why wasn’t he charged with a felony? If this is Huntley’s first offense he can receive a fine up to $1000 and/or imprisonment up to 90 days.
Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein is a television talk show host, speaker, writer, and an unabashed animal advocate. Her love for animals and quest for the hard truth is what drives her passion for all things animals. She hosts the television show, “A Close Up Look at Animal Welfare Issues.” She adores her tripawd, Brody, who was a formerly abused pup who lost his leg because of cruelty inflicted upon him. If you’d like Tina to talk to your group or have a story, please email her at tevangelistaepp@yahoo.com. Like https:www.facebook.com/ACloseUpLookatAnimalWelfareIssues and be sure to check out AnimalWelfareIssues.com.
Go directly to jail!
Seems like hurting your pet is becoming the norm. He shouldn’t be allowed to have pets.
Laws r way too lenient and s joke.