A Muldrow man is facing a felony charge of cruelty of animals after he allegedly abandoned two dogs at a residence on old Hwy. 64 in late July.
Jimmy W. Walker, 26, was charged Aug. 2 in Sequoyah County District Court and received a $5,000 bond. He is now scheduled to appear for an Aug. 30 arraignment before Associate District Judge Kyle Waters.
On the afternoon of July 5, Sequoyah County Sheriff ’s deputy Jeff Neighbors reported the department received information from a reporting party that two female dogs had allegedly been abandoned at a duplex on old Hwy. 64.
The reporting party sent photos of the dogs to Neighbors and stated they didn’t know the name of the people who lived in the duplex, but they had not been at the residence in about three days, and didn’t believe they were taking the dogs with them, according to the probable cause affidavit.
After contacting the property owner, it was found that Walker was reportedly renting the duplex. The property owner said Walker had reportedly abandoned the residence in early July, along with the dogs, and would not return the property owner’s calls or texts concerning the property or dogs.
The deputy then tried contacting Walker at the number provided by the property owner but he received no response, according to the probable cause affidavit.
The deputy sent a text to Walker on July 12, notifying him that it was a felony offense to abandon the dogs and they needed to talk about the situation, or he would be requesting a warrant for his arrest.
Walker responded via text, “Hello, I’m not sure what to do or say about the situation. I have no way to get them to a shelter. My wife wanted the dogs and has refused in any way to help move, re-home them or anything. She has rides and ways. I’m not sure what else to say but if I get some sort of charge for the dogs she stuck me with before leaving, then all I have to say is I actually cared for them. All she did was get more when she moved. I told her time and time again I had no way and nothing for them, and she had multiple opportunities.”
Neighbors responded to Walker “to please call him as soon as he could” but Walker never did, according to the affidavit.
Contact was made with an SPCA rescue group in Tulsa on July 14 who could possibly help with the abandoned dogs, and a warrant was requested for Walker’s arrest.
The dogs were transported to the SPCA animal clinic the following day.
District Attorney Jack Thorp said if found guilty of the charge, it is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment for up to five years, or both.
