Man to face animal cruelty charges for allegedly dumping dogs that kill neighbor’s two poodles – Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper

NATCHEZ — An Adams County man was charged with two counts of cruelty to animals by Justice Court Danny Barber after an incident that began when the man’s two out-of-control dogs mauled to death a neighbor’s two toy poodles.

Dennis Wayne Donald, 57, of Meadow Ridge Road, Natchez, was released on a $50,000 bond and will face a trial.

Karren Holland Ewing, victims’ assistance coordinator for the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, said deputies received a call on Saturday, April 12, reporting that two dogs had killed the neighbor’s poodles.

“Two of his dogs had come into the neighbor’s yard, and when she looked out, one of the dogs was killing one of the poodles, and the other poodle was being carried back to Donald’s house by the other dog,” Ewing said. “When she went over to the neighbor’s house, she found her other dog dead in his yard.”

Ewing said the woman bought the two puppies after her husband died as a way of handling her grief.

“She dressed them up. In the photo of the dogs, they are dressed in pajamas and have bows in their hair. She would only let them out to use the bathroom,” Ewing said about the poodles’ owner. “We are told there had been other calls about those dogs chasing people out walking or kids playing.”

Ewing said she received the report of the incident on Monday and asked Deputy David Nations to accompany her to Donald’s residence to deliver to him a summons to appear in court.

“We couldn’t even get out of the vehicle when we got there. About five dogs outside were coming toward us aggressively,” she said. “We kept blowing our horn until Donald came out. Another dog came outside with him.”

The dogs look to be part pit bull dogs.

The dog that came outside with Donald attacked Deputy Nations, biting him on the leg. Nations had to be treated at Merit Health Hospital in Natchez for the bite.

“We made him get all the dogs back in the house so we could talk. I wrote him the citation and summons for court and told him what was expected of him,” Ewing said. Donald told Ewing and Nations that none of the dogs, including the dog that attacked Nations, had vaccinations and had never seen a veterinarian.

Ewing instructed Donald that the dog that bit Nations had to be quarantined for 10 days. She also told him the other five dogs needed to be contained on his property in some fashion until, at least, he went to court.

“When we got to court, the judge told him the two dogs that killed the toy poodles were going to have to be put down. Donald told the judge to come and get them. I told him, no, that’s not how it works. We are not touching them. They have proven aggressive to us. You are going to have to put them down at your own expense,” Ewing said.

Then, she said Donald claimed to have already killed the dogs himself.

“I buried them, he kept saying. I asked him why he would bury them. I told him to keep them contained until we came to court,” she said. She then told Donald she would have to be taken to where the dogs are buried to dig them up and take photos as proof that they are dead.

That’s when Donald allegedly admitted he had not killed the dogs, but instead had dumped them in the Union Church area.

“I asked him why he would turn them loose for them to be a problem for someone else. I asked him if he had been back to take care of them, to give them food and water. He said he had not, that he just took them out there and dropped them off,” Ewing said. “I told him that what he did was animal cruelty. He came in there with no charges on him, but now he was going to be faced with animal cruelty charges. It is animal cruelty when you dump dogs.”

Ewing said Barber asked her to prepare two warrants for animal cruelty, one for each dog, and set a bond of $25,000 per dog.

“I don’t believe they are in Union Church. I think they are still around here,” she said. “These dogs are like a pack. Those two dogs have proven they will kill other animals. We know they are dangerous.

“The whole thing is heartbreaking. The owner of the poodles was almost inconsolable. She came to court. Those poodles were just mauled because those dogs had nothing better to do,” Ewing said. “If you have a problem with a dog and can’t control it, you need to have it put down. You don’t dump it and leave it to be someone else’s problem.”

**WARNING: The image below of the toy poodles allegedly mauled by Donald’s dog is graphic.**

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