Dog dragged to death in Saltville; Humane Society reacts

By SUZANNE C. HICKERSON
Bristol Herald Courier

SALTVILLE _ Max, a 6-year-old boxer-mix dog, suffered a terrible death last week in this tiny Smyth County town, police said.

And animal rights advocates hope his case will lead to stiffer penalties in Virginia, where first-offense animal cruelty is a misdemeanor.

"If someone deliberately puts an animal through torture, then it should be a felony," Saltville Police Chief Steve Surber said.

Max's case, which Surber described as the "most gruesome" example of animal cruelty he has seen in his career, began June 6. That's when Karen Johnson returned home from work and found the dog missing, Surber said.

Johnson told police that she feared the dog that she adopted from an animal shelter five years ago had been taken by a former boyfriend, Surber said.

A short time later, officers stopped Charles K. Ratcliff for speeding on West Main Street and questioned him about the dog, according to the police chief.

When he was questioned again at the police department, Ratcliff told police where they could find the dog, Surber said.

Officers found the dog's body on Cedar Branch Road, Surber said.

Investigators believe a thin steel cable was tied around the pup's neck and attached to the bumper of a truck, Surber said. The dog was then dragged behind the truck for almost a mile and left by the side of the road, where he later died, Surber said.

"The blood streak measured nine-tenths of a mile," Surber said.

Police have charged Ratcliff, 28, of West Main Street, Saltville, with grand larceny, a felony, for allegedly taking the dog from Johnson's home. He also faces misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, dumping on private property and reckless driving, police said.

Ratcliff is free on a $20,000 bond pending a court hearing. He has been ordered to have no contact with Johnson, the dog's owner, or her family and to own no animals.

Johnson has declined to comment on the case.

Max's case is not the only one involving cruelty, according to animal rights advocates.

Many cases of animal cruelty are investigated across the state and the nation each year _ pointing to a need to strengthen the punishment for such acts, said Teresa Dockery, an Abingdon resident who is legislative liaison for the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies.

As an example of the problem, Dockery pointed to three other animal cruelty cases in the state in the past year.

In Franklin County, a dog was shot and killed in a woman's driveway, while in Radford a cat was shot and killed, she said.

In Christiansburg, a cat's eyes were shot out with a BB gun, but the animal survived after undergoing surgery.

Under current Virginia law, those crimes are misdemeanors unless the person charged has been previously convicted of abusing an animal, said Dockery, former president of the Bristol Humane Society. She said she wants to see the crime become a felony in all cases.

Such a change would send "a strong message to the public and a person that is considering to abuse an animal," Dockery said.

The push to increase the punishment for animal cruelty has the backing of state Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke. Edwards said he is drafting such a bill and plans to introduce it during next winter's legislative session.

Edwards said he hopes "people understand that an act of cruelty toward an animal has no place in society. There is a need and (the Saltville case) exemplifies it."

Surber, Saltville's police chief, also said he supports legislation to make first-offense animal cruelty a felony.

Max's case has been quite upsetting for both the police department and the community, the chief added.

In recent years, the number of states that have felony anti-cruelty laws has increased, Dockery said.

In 1994, only nine states had such laws, she said. Now, however, 31 states have such laws and about 10 more are considering similar measures, she said.

Dockery said she hopes a stiffer penalty for animal cruelty in Virginia will reduce the number of incidents.

"I find it disturbing that these acts continue," Dockery said. "It happens more than the public realizes."