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Last updated on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
(BLOOMFIELD) - A dog owner was arrested after an infuriated rural Bloomfield man called police because three dogs had viciously attacked, mauled, chewed and killed his rabbits and scattered them all over his yard.
Anna Rochelle of the Greene County Daily World reports that Cody Dale Sowders, 28, was arrested by Greene County Sheriff's Deputy Jeff Brown on May 10. His bond was set at $500, and he was released after posting $50 cash.
Sowders was due in Greene Superior Court for an initial hearing on Friday but a continuance was requested and granted.
His hearing has been rescheduled for June 21 and when he appears, he'll be charged with a class B misdemeanor of harboring a non-immunized dog.
The owner of the rabbits, William Schulz, called 911 at 4:47 a.m. on May 10 and said three dogs just attacked and killed his rabbits and one of the dogs had bitten him. He said the dogs belonged to a neighbor, Sowders.
When Deputy Brown arrived at the barn, on Tincher Road, he reported there were nine full-grown adult rabbits, dead, covered in their own blood. They had been mauled and chewed. Their cages, which had been suspended from the rafters about three feet above ground, were indented, smashed and caved in.
Another cage, that had been screwed to a wall, that had contained about 25 baby rabbits, had also been attacked and numerous carcasses were scattered in the yard.
Schultz told the deputy that loud noises in the barn woke him up in the night. He heard growling, barking and things being knocked over. When he got out to the barn, he saw three dogs -- one brown and white boxer, one red-heeler mix and a boxer/red-heeler mix, flinging rabbits around the barn, eating them and carrying them out.
The boxer bit him on the left leg.
Schulz got a shotgun and fired several shots but wasn't sure that he hit any of the dogs.
Schultz suffered abrasions through his blue jeans and an ambulance was called so emergency medical personnel could check on him.
The deputy found Sowders at his residence at 11420 McNutt Drive, Bloomfield.
According to the officer, Sowders said he owned the brown and white boxer but it had been running loose for about a week and he didn't think the leash law was too big a deal since he lived in the country.
The dog was reported to have been immunized a couple of years previous but Sowders said he had not taken the dog to the vet since he got it and no, the dog had not received a rabies shot within the past year.
Sowders also allegedly said he could not control the dog or capture it, it had been running wild and had become vicious towards his family.
The deputy told Sowders he still was responsible for his dog regardless of whether he could maintain control or not, and that he had a responsibility to keep the dog vaccinated.
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