Man pleads guilty, must pay $250 fine in dragged-dog case
BY RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
11/07/12 at 5:13 AM
CLAREMORE - A Chelsea man pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of improper disposal of a carcass in connection with a dog's death, a prosecutor said.
Gary Gwen Hart, 52, was assessed a $250 fine, a $35 victims compensation fee and court costs, First Assistant District Attorney Bryce Lair said.
He has a court cost balance of $301, a Rogers County court spokeswoman said.
Hart didn't immediately return a telephone call Tuesday seeking comment.
Authorities on Sept. 1 found the body of a dog along a county road in the Winganon area. Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton said then that someone had tied a dog's legs with wire and dragged it with a vehicle a little more than a mile before stopping.
A lengthy investigation found no evidence that the 2-year-old black Labrador retriever, Jetta, had been dragged while she was alive, said Janice Steidley, the district attorney for Rogers, Mayes and Craig counties, in a statement Monday.
On Sept. 3, a man told authorities that the black Lab appeared at his property injured and in pain Aug. 29, investigators said. He said he put the dog down, ending its suffering.
Wanting to remove the carcass because of its decomposition, Hart told authorities that he tied the dog's back legs with wire, attached the other end of the wire to the trailer hitch of his vehicle and dragged the dog's body down the road Aug. 31. He said he left it in the ditch, where it was found the next day.
At the request of prosecutors, Rogers County personnel dug up the carcass for a necropsy to determine the cause of death. The necropsy found pellets in the dog's head, which correlated to Hart's statement about putting the dog down, authorities said.
The necropsy failed to determine the cause of death or whether the dog was dragged before or after its death.
Rhett Morgan 918-581-8395
rhett.morgan@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Gary Gwen Hart: He told authorities that he wanted to remove the dog's carcass because of its decomposition, so he tied the dog's back legs with wire, attached the other end of the wire to the trailer hitch of his vehicle and dragged the dog's body down the road Aug. 31. He said he left it in the ditch, where it was found the next day.
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