GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Two dogs died on tethers in Gwinnett County backyards in less than a week, and in both cases the person who left the dog outside went to jail.
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On Sunday, Braselton police charged Shaoming Liu, 42, with felony aggravated cruelty to animals and a misdemeanor cruelty count.
Neighbors called police about the dog, tied up in full sun, Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson said.
“She keeps trying to lay down and it chokes her,” a neighbor told police on body camera video.
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Officers reached Liu through a neighbor and asked to go help the dog.
“We asked him if he would allow us to go back there right now, and he said no,” a Braselton police sergeant said.
Minutes later, an animal control officer tried to free the dog’s mouth from the fence. She died in front of officers, warrants say.
Officers asked Liu, who arrived shortly after, why he left his dogs outside.
“Nobody at home,” Liu said. “At the weekend, my and my wife, they go work.”
He was booked into the Gwinnett County Jail.
Suwanee police arrested Vidal Castro on the same felony charge Sept. 16 after a pug died chained to a chair swing in about 90 degree heat.
Castro told officers he left the dog out before a school pickup and forgot. His family called it a mistake.
Gwinnett County’s animal control ordinance requires dogs kept outdoors to have shelter, space, sanitary conditions and water.
Under Section 10-71 of the county code, an owner who ties a dog up outside must stay outside with it at all times and use a trolley system, the only type of tether the county allows. The dog also can’t be kept out in extreme heat.
“You’re responsible for that dog’s safety just like you would be your own children,” said Capt. Robert Thompson of the Suwanee Police Department.
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