South Carolina Police Officer Starves Boxer Flossie, Keeps His Job and Gets Almost No Punishment
I am beyond shocked! Here is a (sub) human who worked as an animal control officer, went on to become a police officer and CONSCIOUSLY starved his own dog. It is all I can do not to vomit I am so upset!
And then this monster keeps his job and receives no punishment! So not only is he evil, his department is even worse! What kind of soulless person essentially shrugs and lets this scum go back to his life as usual?
If I lived in Spartanburg I would be terrified of what else John Fuller and the rest of this department is doing.
Please be aware that the picture of Flossie on the next page is very upsetting.
Thanks to Janice, furmom to Kiko and Josie, for barking this in from GoUpstate.com.
Gaffney officer pleads guilty to starving dog
Former animal control officer spends 35 minutes in jail; monetary fine suspended
By Lynne P. Shackleford
Published: Friday, November 2, 2007A Gaffney police officer will keep his job after pleading guilty Thursday to starving his dog late last year. John Fuller, 28, of 503 Beech St., who is also a former animal control officer, served 35 minutes in jail after Cherokee County Chief Magistrate Bart Howell sentenced him to time served with no monetary fine after he pleaded guilty to ill treatment of animals.
Fuller was booked into the Cherokee County Detention Center at 9:35 a.m. and was discharged at 10:10 a.m., according to jail records.A conviction for ill treatment of animals carries up to 60 days in jail and a fine of between $100 and $500. Howell said he completely suspended the fine and wouldn’t comment on the sentence.
Fuller was accused of neglecting to feed his full-grown female boxer, which weighed 32 pounds when an animal control officer seized it from Fuller’s former residence on Oct. 30, 2006, after he moved a couple of days before, according to police documents. The average size for a female boxer is between 55 pounds and 65 pounds.
Judy Wyles, the founder of a Gaffney-based animal rescue group, saw the dog the day she came into the animal shelter and documented the case. Wyles turned her files over to the S.C. Law Enforcement Division, which charged Fuller on Thursday following an investigation. Fuller pleaded guilty that same morning.
“The veterinarian who treated Flossie said she couldn’t say for sure how long the dog had been without food, but it was weeks, maybe months, with the exception of maybe throwing something out there just enough for her to eat to keep her alive,” Wyles said. “This isn’t a dog who just didn’t eat for two days.”
The dog was under a vet’s care for about a week to begin nourishment and so the doctor could run tests to make sure she had no other health problems causing it not to eat.
“The only thing that was wrong with Flossie was she wasn’t given food to eat,” Wyles said.
Wyles said Fuller later signed an owner-release document giving her permission to adopt the dog, which she has since done. Wyles said she’s seen other dogs in a similar condition to Fuller’s dog, but they’re often strays.
“I’ve never seen another owner-surrendered dog to look like that,” she said.
City Administrator James Taylor said Fuller was hired on Sept. 19, 2006, as a city police officer after working as a Cherokee County animal control officer.
Taylor said Fuller will retain his job and won’t be subject to a reprimand.
“The police chief just briefed me on this a few minutes ago, and I haven’t seen the court documents,” Taylor said. “But I understand this is a misdemeanor, like a speeding ticket, and he can still work as a police officer.”
Taylor wouldn’t comment on whether someone would be hired with a conviction for ill treatment of animals on their criminal record and said he looks at their work history and ethic when deciding whether an employee will be suspended or terminated.
“You have to look to see whether a person made a bad mistake or a series of bad mistakes and determine how that outweighs other performance,” Taylor said, adding he wasn’t trying to justify the crime.
Follow this link to read the rest of the article.
How disturbing it was for me to read this article. That “creature” should never have a job where he would be in contact with animals. He should have been sent to jail and fined for the horrible treatment of his own Boxer girl! That cretin has lost all that is human and good. And, anyone allowing him to continue working or to hire him elsewhere are to be abhorred.
Will these idiots ever stop?!! I’m so sick of always hearing all these horrible things that these “people” are doing! I was hoping there was some place we could write to this police department or send a petition saying this guy shouldn’t be responsible for so many lives as an officer. That’s ridiculous! They’re all IDIOTS!!
The good news is that this abusive person resigned his job Friday after this article appeared in our paper. The prosecutor’s office said they DID NOT plea bargin this case and were hoping for a more substantial punishment. I don’t understand the judge’s decision to basically allow Fuller to go free, and the police department to not even consider a reprimand. But at least he is no longer out there ’serving’ the public. It is not the best, but I think the power of the public voice is starting to have some effect. Thanks for posting this, Joy!!
This kind of person should be punished in the worst way possible. Nobody should be allowed to get away with this.
I just hope that the word goes out to follow him where ever he might next appear! I would hate for this kinda person to ever get another animal contact position someplace else!
My heart just breaks at the sight of this poor dog. This man should be treated like he treated her. Was there nobody around seeing this going on!?! Was there no family , friends. Or does he treat everyone this way!?! I always taught my children to treat everyone the way you want to be treated; I guess thats why we like our dogs more than most people. And Bart Howell what else does he turn a blind eye to in that community. The people in that community need to speak out on this matter, now!!!
People like that make me ashamed to be in Criminal Justice. So much for being held to a “higher” standard! The “judge” should be brought on charges for not imposing the law properly. He abused his discretion just like that man did his dog.
The “JUDGE” needs to be removed from the bench and be brought up on charges for abuse of power! This person does not deserve the privilege of being a Judge seeing how they have a problem understanding the law.
We as a society have become numb to the horrific conditions that many animals live under. We either don’t see or won’t see the crulity that is happening under our nose. God loaned these amazing creatures to us to be our companions for life and that is all so often taken for granted. When our courts don’t even consider the well being of a living creature, where do we stand as a civilization.
They say a society is judged by how it treats its animals and weakest members. Clearly our society is officially beyond saving. It’s bad enough that people mistreat animals the world over, especially in a country as developed as ours…but for our authorities to condone such treatment by not properly condeming someone who is responsible for protecting the community is horrifying and criminal. The police officer should lose his badge and the judge who allowed him to walk should be taken off the bench and both should be sent to jail for a while. When will our state and federal governments finally create real (stiff) penalties for people who kill or abuse animals? When?
Um….what? “Look to see if the person made a bad mistake?” A bad mistake would have been being out for dinner and a movie and forgetting to feed your dog ONCE. This poor Boxer hadn’t had food for weeks or even months according to the vet on record. I can’t think of anything much more cruel than withholding nourishment from a domesticated animal that solely relies on humans to eat! I would imagine the pain from starvation is horrendous. The “sentence” would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic. Please explain to me how a person who willingly starves an animal thereby breaking the law is still suited for enforcing the laws upon other citizens – he can’t even follow them himself!
The only positive out of this story is that the Boxer is now in better hands and survived (miraculously). Way to go, South Carolina.
It totally amazes me how anyone can do this to a dog – and a police officer to boot! It also saddens me to think of how many times over the past few months we’ve read about police officers and their K9s who have suffered (or died) due to the officers actions.
im from gaffney, and this justice system is from the pits, every office here needs to be invesgated, and john o”donald the chief of police who everyone thought was so honest up held this action, this is not the first time the animal control has been caught mistreating the poor animals, but try to get something done even at state level, here all it takes is a bankroll and u can get by with anything. and the judge is just as guilty as fuller, his dad owns a business here in town, and is just as no good as his son, like all the other officials, our mayor is more worried about a drinking fountian in his cronies park than this issue, the only reason im still here is my eldery mother, and i apologize to all the pet lovers for the lack of compasion shown here in gaffney, i would like to beat the #@!! out of all of them with a bat, and so would the biggest part of our town, we are not all like them we love our pets, just please pray for our town, it use to be a wonderful place to live and raise your family.