Town Workers Drowned Dogs in Sewer
Aug. 1, 2005 -- -- A Jourdanton, Texas, city councilman is calling for an independent investigation into why a city employee allegedly ordered the drownings of five stray dogs who were being held at the pound at the town's sewer plant.
"I believe that an outside agency could do an investigation that would not be biased," Councilman Darrell Richter said in an inteview Sunday with ABC News affiliate KSAT-TV in San Antonio.
The investigation would determine if more than one city employee was responsible for the drownings of the dogs three weeks ago, Richter said.
City workers took the dogs from the pound to the sewer plant and dropped their cages into the water, Richter said.
The incident likely would have passed without notice, but a child saw the drownings and told his mother, who complained, the councilman said.
The city employee who allegedly ordered the drownings has received a written reprimand, but councilman Joe de la Rosa indicated Sunday he believes that harsher measures may need to be taken.
"Whatever action needs to be taken, we're going to do it," he said. "That is definitely my promise to everybody. It's going to happen. That is a cruel, cowardly way of doing things to poor animals."
Whoever was involved could face criminal charges, Jourdanton police chief Ronnie Lawson told the San Antonio Express-News. He told the paper his department is investigating and will present its findings to county prosecutors in about a week.
"There are only two ways in Texas to euthanize an animal, and drowning is not one of them," Lawson told the newspaper.
According to Texas law, stray dogs and cats can only be put to death by giving them carbon monoxide gas or injecting them with sodium pentobarbital, and must be done at an animal shelter.
The city council has scheduled a meeting Tuesday to discuss the incident, and Richter said he plans to use that opportunity to question city manager Dan Nick about what happened.
Richter told the San Antonio Express-News that it disgusts him that city employees would drown dogs at the sewer plant, and he believes "a little slap on the hand" is not an appropriate punishment for the supervisor who allegedly ordered it. He told the newspaper he believes a crime was committed and it should be dealt with in a more serious manner.
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