Trey GS Abuse Case in Tennessee

German sheperd found nearly starved to death

FINAL UPDATE - JULY 29, 2010 - Fellow Friends of Animals: The felony animal cruelty case involving 14-year old German Shepherd “Trey” settled in Circuit Court this week. The defendant, Guy Stanford, qualified for pretrial diversion since he had no prior criminal record. This is essentially a 2-year probation that will include 200 hrs. community service, restitution to the Clarksville Humane Society in amount of $300 to cover veterinary expenses, and he cannot own any pets for 2 years.

The Leaf Chronicle will be publishing an update to Trey’s story, which we will share with you once printed. We are thankful to local District Attorneys, Art Bieber and Lee Caira, for doing what was necessary to “up” the original misdemeanor charges to a FELONY (see former Leaf article below) and ensure that Mr. Stanford received the maximum penalties permitted by Tennessee law. It is WEAK animal cruelty laws in our state that prevented the “justice” for Trey that most of us would have expected. We knew going into this that it was unlikely his owner would serve jail time, but we felt it was important… a matter of principal… to push forward anyway. During this last year, Mr. Stanford has endured court appearances, missed work, embarrassment, attorney’s fees, etc., and the next 2 years will include more of the same as he finishes out his probation. We hope every second of inconvenience & expense is a reminder that all could have been avoided had they just taken responsibility for their dog’s needs.

UPDATE - JULY 29, 2010 - Guy Stanford Jr had his final court date 7/28/2010 where he plead "no contest". The Judge offered him the opportunity to participate in a "diversion" program. In exchange for the horrendous suffering that he forced Trey to endure, Stanford was awarded a 2 year diversion agreement (2 years of unsupervised probation) 200 hours of community service to be served at a minimum of 10 hours a month and $300.00 in restitution to be paid to the Clarksville Humane society for putting Trey out of his misery.

He is not allowed to possess or own any animals for the 2 years of his diversion program and if he completes this program with no violations of the rules of the agreement, his heinous crime will be expunged from his record.

As a result of this case, Montgomery County has more strict guidelines in their ordinance for tethering Dogs. http://www.montgomerycountytn.org/county/animal_control/forms/Animal_Control_Regulations.pdf

UPDATE - APRIL 23 2010 - Court date for Guy Stanford JR. is set for June 10 2010. This will be the settlement hearing date. The Prosecutor in this case is John Finkley,

Arrest Story:
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20100325/CRIME/3250318/Local+man+charged+with+animal+cruelty

http://www.clarksvillehumanesociety.org/

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- When a German Shepherd was starved, paralyzed and chained to a post, the Clarksville Humane Society called it one of the worst animal abuse cases it had ever seen. That case is set to go to court Tuesday, and many want to make sure it doesn't go unnoticed. "His picture will be in my mind forever," said Humane Society Director Amy Shaver. In May of 2009, the Clarksville Humane Society found Trey the 14-year-old German shepherdparalyzed and chained at a home on Susan Drive.

"This had been going on since at least February," said Shaver. "It could have been going on even longer than that; there's no way, really, of knowing."

Animal workers hoped to take Trey to a veterinarian, but when they rolled him over, they found hundreds of maggots feeding on open sores. Instead, a vet euthanized Trey on the spot.

"He was just in a lot of pain, and it would have been even more inhumane to try to move him," said Shaver.

Police charged the dog's owner, Guy Stanford, with aggravated animal cruelty. Tuesday, the case is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday.

"I just want Trey's story to have a much bigger message in the community," Shaver said. Humane Society representatives said this type of animal abuse happens more than they'd like to admit and that by the time these cases get to court, they're often times simply thrown out.

Shaver wants to make sure that doesn't happen with Trey. She wants a felony conviction that will send a message to other animal abusers.

"This type of chaining is not going to be tolerated in this community -- legally or otherwise," she said.

http://www.wsmv.com/video/20608457/index.html

As a result of these types of cases, Montgomery County, TN has established a more humane ordinance, it can be seen here:

http://www.montgomerycountytn.org/county/animal_control/forms/Animal_Control_Regulations.pdf