A Puppy's Permanent Silence -Atmore, AL
Updated: Feb 2
There are better ways to quiet your puppy...
This is a deeply painful story coming from Escambia County, Alabama, involving a family chihuahua puppy being silenced by an oven imprisonment. This man is obviously innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law. I will be giving the facts provided by the sergeant on the case as well as a few unproven accounts from community members in the comment sections on Facebook.
While this may seem unimportant to some, we entertain eye witness testimonies in court, no matter how much risk there may be.
The Story -Allegedly
On May 19, Sergeant Darrel McMann responded to a call regarding an injured animal on the 100 Block of Cruitt Drive in Atmore, Alabama. When officers arrived, they discovered a deceased chihuahua puppy lying on the driveway with critical burns covering his body.
Sergeant McMann, who owns a chihuahua himself, said “When I got there, I was just at a loss for words.” He also expressed that a Class C felony does not fit this crime, what he did was “horrible and inhumane.”
After an on-site investigation, evidence of a heinous crime was discovered. The evidence suggested that the dog was put in the oven with a chair blocking the oven door. The police department says that “a witness overheard Williamson say he was going to put the puppy in the oven if it didn’t quit barking. The witness also heard a dog yelping in pain a short time later but didn’t realize what was happening.”
The suspect, identified as James Williamson, was arrested this day on a Class C aggravated animal cruelty charge. He is being held at the Escambia County, Alabama Detention Center on a $15,000 bond.
Community Member Accounts
People commenting on an Atmore News Facebook post shared their personal experiences with Williamson. He was apparently released from a mental institute and stopped taking his meds due to the pharmacy being out of stock. In my opinion, if someone is so ill they cannot control themselves without mental health professionals around, they should not be on the streets.
It is a most tragic situation, but we have to protect our communities. If someone is capable of putting a puppy in the oven to silence their barking, what do you think they will do to a person - or worse, a child? If he becomes a father how will he deal with his own child’s crying?
Protect your children. Protect your community.
Another community member states that, as a retail worker, she has dealt with him on numerous occasions in Atmore. She states that it’s “always the same story, he stops taking his meds and does something violent.”
A separate commenter added: “He has always had mental issues and the mental facilities always release him.”
These statements are not facts, but they can be entertained as witness statements. These people have apparently had run-ins with him in the past, or seen him on the news -maybe even heard stories about him. He is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but it seems to me that he was the only person in the house at the time of the incident, so who else would have done this to the puppy?
If these statements are true, then he absolutely should not be out on the streets ever again. Animal cruelty often leads to even more heinous crimes. We have to protect the children in our communities. We can’t let someone this ill be free to do what they want. It’s unfortunate that their life would be controlled and maintained by a facility, but it would be even more unfortunate to find a baby -or another dog- roasted inside an oven.
Animal Victory set up a petition with intentions of ensuring Williamson will be held accountable for this heinous act involving the chihuahua puppy: Animal Victory Petition
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