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Woman charged with animal cruelty

By David Goodwin
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An Eclectic woman was arrested Tuesday and charged with cruelty to animals for allegedly burning her pet bluetick hound with scalding grease and never seeking treatment for.

The male hound, who volunteers at the Elmore County Humane Society named “Virgil,” was found wandering Main Street in downtown Eclectic. Third-degree burns extended the length of his back, from head to tail.

After a lengthy investigation, Eclectic Police Department Assistant Chief Chris Miles arrested Sherry Capps �” Virgil’s former owner �” on charges of animal cruelty Tuesday.

Miles said the burns were caused by “some kind of grease” that was poured down the dog’s back. Capps, he said, “stated it was gravy she had poured in the dog food.”

“But I did not understand that, because it ended up on the dog’s back,” Miles added.

The wound went untreated for so long, Miles said, that it constituted cruelty, whether the burns were accidental or intentional.

“I was outraged that an animal had been suffering so badly for an unknown length of time,” he said. “(A responsible owner) would have went to the ER to treat themselves that day, that minute, or that second, but this dog had to wait, in severe pain.”

When Miles saw Virgil’s wounds, it was immediately clear that someone should be prosecuted for animal cruelty, he said.

“When I saw the dog, I actually had to turn my head for a second, because I honestly did not expect what I saw,” Miles said.

“I was outraged that an animal had been suffering so badly for an unknown length of time.”

Miles took Virgil to the Elmore County Humane Society’s shelter in Wetumpka, where Director Rea Cord contacted veterinarians at Tuskegee University to treat his wounds and begin his rehabilitation.

The veterinarian stitched together around half the wounds on the upper part of Virgil’s back. But closer to his tail, the skin was tighter, so only bandages and time will heal them, Cord said.

“At this point, it’s filling in quite well,” she said. “He looks 10 times better than he did. But he’ll likely never grow fur there, and there will always be scars.”

Capps bonded out of the Elmore County Jail on a $1,000 bond misdemeanor Tuesday.

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