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Deputy charged with animal cruelty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/10/07 10:00 AM
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A Fulton County Sheriff’s deputy has been charged with one count of cruelty to animals after animal control officers found one dog that apparently starved to death on his property and another that was extremely thin.
Donnell Cockhern of Atlanta was cited Feb. 4 after he went to the Fulton County animal shelter demanding his dogs be returned to him, said Fulton Deputy Police Chief Gary Stiles.
Officers had removed the two chained dogs Feb. 3 and left him a notice they had taken them. Cockhern apparently wasn’t aware the brown pit bull had died. Stiles said a necropsy is being performed on the dead dog.
Sgt. Nikita Adams-Hightower, a spokesperson for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, said they have opened an internal affairs investigation into the case. “How we deal with it will depend somewhat on what happens at his court date,” Adams-Hightower said.
Cockhern has a hearing set for 10 a.m. March 15 at Atlanta Municipal Court.
