Wed Feb 08 2012
The owner of Big Boy – the young Rottweiler-mix that died from hanging himself in his yard Aug. 2 – is being charged with animal cruelty.
Carla Graham, of 139 E. Main St., is scheduled to be in Franklin District Court at 9 a.m. Sept. 14 on a charge of second-degree animal cruelty.
It’s a Class A misdemeanor, and the maximum penalty for conviction is a $500 fine and/or a year in jail.
Franklin County Attorney Rick Sparks said Monday another person will also be charged with animal cruelty in the Big Boy case, but that name hasn’t been released.
According to a city police report, the owners left Big Boy “in the care of two individuals.”
The dog was chained to a tether cable approximately 30 feet in length, and “tied within feet of a large drop-off over East Main Street,” the police report said.
Big Boy was found by a passerby hanging from the drop-off, struggling to breathe, the police report said.
“The passerby and another witness attempted to rescue the dog, but once the dog was lifted it lived only a short period,” the police report said.
Frankfort Animal Control Officer Mark Pardi told police he had been to a complaint at the 139 E. Main St. residence around 9:30 a.m. Aug. 2, and he found the dog without food or water and with a tangled chain.
The police report said the dog “appeared to have hanged itself due to being chained with a choker collar.”
Marsha Peasley, a neighbor who knew Big Boy, told The State Journal she discovered him while she was walking home with her nephew, Christopher Randolf, 18, from Kentucky Coffeetree Café on Broadway.
Peasley said Big Boy had his leash wrapped around a porch railing, and he was dangling, trying to free himself.
“We ran across East Main in the middle of traffic, grabbed him and took off his choke collar and pulled him up on level ground,” Peasley told The State Journal.
Peasley said his water bowl was empty and she yelled to her nephew to run to her house and get water.
“We poured water on him trying to cool him down,” Peasley said. “I gave him mouth to snout resuscitation, trying to get him to respond. We did that for about a minute. His tongue was blue.
“He couldn’t hold his head up but he looked up at me, wagged his tail, slumped over in my lap and stopped breathing.
“It was very sad, but I was more angry than sad because Big Boy didn’t have to die. He was a very nice, sweet, goofy dog that didn’t know any better.
“At least he’s not suffering anymore. Big Boy did have someone there being kind to him at the end. He recognized that.”
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