Crime Time

Video of seized Johnson County pit bulls

Johnson County police seized 36 pit bulls from a home near Venus after workers foreclosing a mobile home on the property called worrying about their safety.

Four other pit bulls were found dead on the property, along with a German Shepherd, said Detective Steve Shaw of the Johnson County Sherriff's office.

Right now the case is being investigated as animal cruelty and nobody has been arrested, Shaw said. But the director at the shelter for the Humane Society of North Texas where they're being held said some of the dog's injuries are consistent with fighting.

Here's some camera-phone video of the dogs at the shelter shortly after they arrived and right after they were fed by shelter employees.

Read the story here. Read more and see more photos from staff photographer Tom Pennington on Wednesday at Star-Telegram.com.

--Andrew Chavez

Police: Dog shot by archer, who now is under arrest

If you read the Star-Telegram's evening edition front page on March 13, 1990, you'd undoubtedly remember the large lead headline that declared: "Poodle Slain by Archer."

Longtimers in the newsroom still talk about that headline to this day. It even showed up on some novelty T-shirts that became collector's items.

The story involved a family pet -- a poodle -- that was fatally shot with an arrow in Arlington. Usually not the lead story of a metro newspaper, but in the days of "street sales" editions, conventional wisdom meant the more sensational the headline, the better the sales.

Well, there's a story today in the Austin American-Statesman that reminded me of that famus headline. According to the American-Statesman a 48-year-old Cedar Park man has been charged with shooting his girlfriend's dog with an bow and arrow, critically injuring the German shepher/Labrador mix. It later had to be euthanized because of its injuries.

Kenneth E. Holder told police the dog had bitten him while he tried to wash it. Holder is facing cruelty to animal charges, police said.

-- Lance Murray

Hotel duck slayer gets time in workhouse, $1,000 fine

You may recall last fall when Crime Time reported on the man in Minnesota who was accused of beheading a duck inside a St. Paul hotel. It was a messy, disconcerting scene for those who witnessed it.

Here's the update.

Duck killer Scott D. Clark was sentenced to 21 days in a workhouse, fined $1,000 and ordered to serve 80 hours of community service for killing the duck inside the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown St. Paul. Clark pleaded guilty in January to one count of animal cruelty.

Psychologists agreed that Clark was not a danger to society, but they said he should receive treatment for alcohol abuse.

-- Lance Murray

People lining up to help catch Spike's killer

A Pomeranian named Spike was doused with gasoline and set ablaze over the weekend in south Arlington, and now people and organizations are stepping up, offering rewards to help catch whoever killed the pet.

Spike's family has already put up $2,500.

But Staff Writer Traci Shurley reports that Dallas-based Murrell Foundation, headed by John Murrell, president of Three M Oil Co., is adding $5,000.

The Humane Society of the United States is offering $2,500.

Also, Safe City Commission Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County will pay up to $1,000.

Click here to read the rest of Traci's report.

-- Bill Miller 

Boys accused of deer beatings included quarterback, running back

Four members of the Iraan High School football team accused in the beating deaths of two deer trapped on a baseball field will spend 88 days of the spring semester in an off-campus disciplinary program, according to The Associated Press.

The Iraan-Sheffield school district's superintendent says the four will be allowed to play football in the fall, when they are expected to return to normal student status.

After the deer were found dead on the baseball field earlier this month in the West Texas city, each of the students was cited on a charge of hunting deer with illegal means and hunting deer in closed season because the beatings allegedly happened at night.

Two of the students were identified as Call Cade, a first-team all-district quarterback, and Zac Owen, a first-team running back, Capt. Scott Davis of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said. Both are 17.

The other students were not identified because they are minors.

Read the latest report from the San Angelo Standard-Times, which has collected numerous comments on the incident from impassioned readers.

-- Bill Miller

Neighbor smells foul odor; officials find dead pit bulls

Arlington police found dead dogs either chained up or locked in kennels in the backyard of a 24-year-old man now facing 11 counts of animal cruelty.

Three of the seven dead dogs were pit bull puppies in a crate. Arlington officers also found a bag of dog bones and a dog skull in the back yard of the east Arlington home rented by Christopher J. Clark (right).

Animal services officers also seized five emaciated pit bulls from the home and are trying to get them to rescue groups so they will not have to be euthanized. Three of the dogs were inside the home and two dogs were chained on a short metal chain to trees in the backyard. None of the dogs had food or water.

The investigation began Dec. 8 after a resident reported a bad smell coming from next door.

Read more here.

-- Susan Schrock

Teen tortured autistic boy's tortoise; gets jail time

William Sullivan is a 7-year-old boy with autism, who spoke his first words to his pet African spurred tortoise named Bob.

Bob, left, was stolen from Sullivan's back yard and was tortured and mutilated on July 7 by Jose Antonio Mosqueda, 18, police said.  Mosqueda punctured its shell,  slashed its legs and and threw it against a wall, police said.

On Monday, Mosqueda, right, was sentenced to 270 days in jail. He will be credited with 156 days that he already has served. The teen could have faced up three years in jail.

The tortoise is recovering, but Sullivan's mother says he is afraid that Bob could be harmed again.

-- Lance Murray