Police investigate animal cruelty, neglect

But he learned this past week that the man moved out of the house and left the dog tied up in the back yard with no access to food or water. The animal control officer said he contacted the owner of the dog, who refused to cooperate, according to the incident report.

In the other incident, neighbors contacted police to report that a pit bull next door attacked a smaller pit bull in the same yard, grabbing it by the leg and shaking it.

Police arrived to find visible injuries to the smaller dog. They summoned the animal control officer, who jumped over the fence and managed to get the larger animal into a cage for transport to Commerce Veterinary Hospital to be quarantined until the status of its rabies vaccinations could be determined.

He put the smaller dog in the vehicle to take in for treatment, but the animal hospital said it would not accept the dog until someone took responsibility for paying for any charges.

It took several attempts, but police finally contacted the owner of the two animals, a 26-year-old white male. According to the incident report, the man said he was planning to “donate” the smaller dog to the veterinary hospital anyway. The officer said he told the man the animal hospital would not accept it in its injured condition, and the man replied that he could not take the animal to the veterinarian that day. The man promised to clean the dog’s wounds and take it in for treatment the following day.