A man has been arrested and accused of torturing and killing a dog that was tied to a vehicle and dragged, and then taped to the steering wheel of another vehicle and left to die.
Thirty-seven-year-old Mark Allen Starcher of Pond Gap was charged today with one count of felony animal cruelty.
Its front paws and chest cavity had been taped to the steering wheel of an abandoned sport utility vehicle.
Patches of skin were torn off and bone was exposed near the left shoulder. The back of the skull had been impaled with an object, possibly a screw driver.

Officers with the Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association said the dog likely was alive when someone taped it to the steering wheel because its paws were swollen, indicating blood was still flowing.

As of Mar. 25th,2005 the defendant requested and was granted a time waiver, which means he is giving up his right to have a hearing within 10 days. The Kenawha County Magistrate Court was not sure when the hearing will be reset.

The prosecutor is Michael T. Clifford, Esq., who won a convication in the "Sunbear" case of starvation under the old (misdemeanor) law. The present case is a felony due to the outrage from the "Sunbear" case.

We petition Prosecutor Michael T. Clifford, Esq., to give the max. jail
time this animal abuser and mandatory
psychological counseling and do not permit him to ever have an animal in his
possession.