10-pound dog dragged behind car by owner

by: Kat Simpson
recipient: Chief Dan Alexander, Cape Coral Police Dept/ US District Attorney Offic

12/25 2006
Merry Christmas Little Shawney. I know this will be the best one you have ever had in your new loving home. You are surrounded daily by those who fought so hard to save you, and now keep you in their hearts and home. We love you Shawney!..Thank you to everyone who signed this petition, as a collective voice to be heard for Shawney, and those who called, sends cards and letters and sat in the courtroom everyday, facing the abuser who through his actions, did make a little dog suffer so greatly, but through the fighting effort of people who cared and Shawneys will to live, did not take her life or spirit!...SHE IS ALIVE AND LOVED and recovering still, but so much better after many many surgeries, countless months in the hospital and a strong will, has years to look foward to of love and spoiling...Something she has always deserved, as do ALL animals!.
Thank you and Bless you!
VICTORY:
Latest update as of 8/11/06..Great news!(original story will remain below this lastest posting)
UPDATE AS OF TODAY! 8/11/06

I have no new pictures yet but will soon and will post but this sweet baby. Shawey

...

who had been awaiting her fate when the trial for her came up, is forever FREE of her abuser and tormenter!

As of today I have received news that the Judge ruled in Shawneys favor and she will NOT be going back to him or his family AND he will be responsible for all charges incurred which are now in excess of over 10,000 plus AND more charges are pending, so I am still awaiting news on his final charges and sentencing BUT......Animal Services has been awarded custody but they have a list a mile long for her!..She will remain at the Vet Hospital until she goes to her new home...

this is a great victory and news...Shawney is free and has a waiting loving home to go to when she is released from the hospital!

The DA, and staff at the Vet hospital as well as myself and Shawney want to thank all of you in your care and concern, call, letters and signatures on her petition, as that made a world of difference to how important this was to the DA and Judge!

This is indeed a triumph for Shawney, as well as for others who have or are suffering as she has..

She is healing and happy now....Thank God she went to caring people, and others who helped her and fought so hard for her!

THANK YOU......Bless you and bless Shawney!

(original)
A 10-pound dog was recovering in a Cape Coral animal hospital Thursday, a day after police say its owner dragged it
behind a car with a leash for nearly

a third of a mile.

Cape police charged Jeffrey Candler, 49,
of 2113 N.E. 33rd St.,
with one count of animal cruelty.
He was being held on a $25,000 bond late Thursday at Lee County Jail.

Candler was arrested in February 2004 on charges he failed to register as a sex offender, jail records show.

According to police reports, Candler showed no remorse for the female Chihuahua mix named Shawney when he was questioned and had been drinking alcohol, which may have contributed to the incident.

The man's son Thursday called the
whole incident a "huge mistake."

(an unremorseful "excuse")

Typically, animal cruelty is a  first-degree misdemeanor, but  depending on the circumstances,  it could be elevated to a
third-degree felony, said  state's attorney spokeswoman  Chere Avery.
Prosecutors are reviewing the case
against Candler, she said.
Maximum fines could range from
$5,000 to $10,000 with possible jail time.

Shawney is being treated at
Viscaya-Prado Veterinary Hospital, 920 Country Club Blvd., and is  expected to be there at least a week.
The dog suffered a broken front  right leg
and major wounds  around its body,
the skin on the paws peeled away,
and some claws were missing.
(see above photo)
The animal received intravenous antibiotics and fluids and pain  medicine Thursday,
said Dr.  Lisa Gote, a veterinarian who
has been caring for the animal.

"She's got multiple road burns where her
skin is peeled off," said Gote.
"She had gravel stuck in the wounds
that we had to pull out."

Vets planned to take more tests and X-rays on Thursday. Gote said she was concerned
the dog may have suffered a broken jaw because there is a wound on her chin, but officials at the clinic later said there were
no other broken bones.

Shawney is expected to recover  with the proper care, but it will be a long, painful road back to health, Gote said.

Robert Keating and his wife, Arlene, saw the suspect driving  a white sedan south on
Santa Barbara Boulevard  near Wilmington Parkway  while the dog was tied to
the back bumper with a leash.
When the car turned onto Jacaranda Parkway about a third of  a mile away,
the dog snapped  loose from the vehicle, they said.

Robert Keating, 61, dropped  his wife off to tend to the dog, which was lying in a small puddle of blood with labored breathing.

He drove up to get a license plate  number
of the offending vehicle.
The Keatings then told police about the incident and took  the injured animal to the
veterinary hospital, where
Arlene Keating works as a part-time receptionist.

"We were kind of startled,"  said Robert Keating, a  retired police officer from
Suffolk County, N.Y.
"It looked like a little puppy  was
following behind a car.
We noticed the dog was kind of bouncing
in the road," Keating said.

When officers confronted him at his home, Candler first  said he tied the dog to the
bumper while he went fishing, and when he came back,  the dog was gone, said
police spokeswoman Dyan Zedeker.

Candler said he was making fliers for the missing dog for  two hours, police officials said.
But when the officer asked to see one of them, Candler went to his  computer, opened up a file and  typed "lost dog," according to Zedeker.

Candler then changed his story
(several times) but then said it
was an accident, police officials said.

Candler's son, Nathan Candler,
17, said he was fishing with his father.
He said they tied the dog to the
bumper of the car "so she could
have some shade" and later drove
away with the dog still tied to the car.
(yet another "version" of the story)

(original)A

read petition letter ▾

This man is a repeat CRIMINAL offender, who has no remorse for the PAIN AND SUFFERING he has caused this INNOCENT dog!
It is too hard for any decent, reasonable person to accept that it was a mere accident!. His past shows a deliberate and cruel pattern of abuse of various nature, and, as people usually do when assulting one species they usually do another as well...i,e..abusing animals moving on to people or vise versa and or both together.
PLEASE make this a matter of upholding the laws set in place to protect animals and to rightly punish those who commit these heinous acts, with no less that the maxium JAIL for felony conviction, for and of the viciousness of this act it is, and convict on the fullest extent of the law available FELONY, abuse with extensive cruelty, and attempted murder on the life of this innocent dog, who is now suffering in ways we can not imagine, and can only hope this tiny dog will live to find a safe home!

Please dont allow this to be an example of what people can get away with, but an example of what they CAN NOT and that ANIMAL ABUSE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. You WILL go to jail!.....For ALL animals who have ever suffered and suffer still, 24-7, make this justice for this dog!..Thank you.

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10-pound dog dragged behind car by owner