Monday, November 16, 2015

Oconee County Released Animal Cruelty Citation Against Broadlands Drive Resident Charged With Shooting Cats

Cats In Trash Container

Oconee County Animal Control on Thursday of last week cited Douglas Lanier Orr, 69, 1430 Broadlands Drive, east of Watkinsville, for the misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty, according to the incident report released by the county early today.

The citation results from an investigation on Tuesday during which Animal Control found five cats in a trash container at the front of Orr’s house in Broadlands subdivision, off Simonton Bridge Road, according to the incident report.

Animal Control Officer Nick Hensley responded to a call at 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday from Jennifer Bond, co-owner of Curbside Services, who reported that one of her drivers found an injured cat in a trash can.

Upon investigation, Hensley discovered that four dead cats also were in the trash container, according to the report.

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office had released its incident on the report on Friday of last week, but the county did not release the report from the Animal Control Department documenting the citation until today.

Gruesome Details

The incident report states that Hensley found one cat still alive when he reached the residence, but that the cat was badly injured.

Incident Report

Hensley said he “witnessed a physically struggling, injured, mangled, black cat, within the container.” Hensley reported that “the cat was breathing and legs were moving.”

According to the report, Hensley went to the front door of the Orr home and spoke with the wife of Orr, who said her husband would meet Hensley at the trash container.

Hensley said when Orr arrived at the container Hensley asked Orr what happened to the cat.

"The cat got in the way of my bullet! I shot three cats today,” Hensley quoted Orr as saying.

Injured Cat Taken

According to the report, Orr then grabbed the injured cat by its rear legs and tossed it into his truck and drove to the rear of his 7.3-acre lot.

“The cat was still alive when Orr lifted it out of the trash can and attempted to scratch him,” Hensley wrote in the report.

Hensley said he called the Sheriff’s Office for assistance and a minimum of six vehicles arrived.

“I clearly overheard Orr tell deputies he put the removed black cat that was still alive in a stump hole on his property,” Orr wrote in his report.

Dead Cats Discovered

Hensley wrote that he then discovered four deceased cats “with bullet wounds” tucked inside two horse feed bags in the trash container.

Although the Sheriff’s Office report indicated that Orr had told them he shot the cats because “they were killing his chickens,” Hensley’s report contains a different version of the reason Orr shot the cats.

“I'm tired of buying cat food,” Hensley quotes Orr as saying.

Hensley said Orr said he had just bought two bags of cat food and had posted three ads on Craigslist for free cats but had not found anyone interested in the cats.

Hensley said that he saw a minimum of eight cats, cat food and water bowls on the front porch of the home and estimated that a minimum of 20 cats were on the property when he left.

No Warrant Sought

Hensley indicated that he asked the Sheriff deputies to arrest Orr and that they refused, telling Hensley that he also could go before a judge and get a warrant for Orr’s arrest.

The county animal control ordinance incorporates the state’s definition of cruelty to animals.

In addition to the misdemeanor charge filed against Orr, the county has the ability to file a felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals.

A person so charged might be arrested and brought before a judge for arraignment on the charge. Persons usually are not arrested on misdemeanor charges.

The county ordinance also requires proper disposal of dead animals by burning, incineration, burial, rendering or “any method using appropriate disposal technology” approved by the state Department of Agriculture.

The county ordinance also makes it a violation to “fail to immediately notify” the owner of a domestic animal, the county, or an appropriate law enforcement agency when a domestic animal has been injured.

Court Date And Documents

Orr’s court date is Feb. 12 before Magistrate Court Judge Eric Norris.

The incident report released by the county today is HERE. It contains pictures of the injured and killed cats.

The incident report released by the Sheriff’s Office on Friday is HERE.

The recording of the call to the Sheriff’s Office is HERE.


Carol said...

Why wasn't that man arrested!?!? Sounds like a cover-up! Who ever ABH interviewed lied! Poor kitties, they deserved better!

Anonymous said...

Six vehicles from the Sheriff's Office arrived?

Lee Becker said...

I have deleted a number of comments left on this post. They made statements that are opinions and cannot be verified.

Orr has been cited on a misdemeanor and is scheduled to appear in court in February.

Police can arrest a person, that is, take someone into custody, for a misdemeanor, but the more likely scenario is for the person to receive a summons to appear in court.

An arrest is the first step in the legal process. In Georgia, the next step is for the person to appear before a judge in what is called an initial appearance where bail is set. In the case of a felony, bail is set in a second hearing called a commitment hearing.

Lee Becker said...

Six vehicles is correct. The call to the Sheriff's Office suggested a person had a gun. A link to the call is at the bottom of the post.

The Athens Banner-Herald seems to have relied on the Sheriff's Office incident report. The Animal Control incident report was released only on Monday.

Anonymous said...

Fact: No one wants to see Animal Control until they need their help, including the Sherrifs department. To bad they couldn't work together on scene, news and media coverage would be able to bring positive attention to the situation and community, instead of pin them against each other. It's 2015, shooting your own cats in the head, God gave more sense to Animal Crackers than this guy displayed, no matter which way you look at it. What a monster. Animal Control, thanks for what yaw do, seems like a catch 22, your screw for doing what you're paid to do, and screwed no matter what.

Anonymous said...

I will try again to comment using only facts that may be verified. I am comparing both the sheriff's office report of the incident and the Animal Control report of the incident, as well as the emails that I received from Sheriff Berry. This happened in my neighborhood at a residence that I pass at least twice a day.

That said, there are many things that make me angry and sick about this situation! There is the obvious-the pain and suffering of an animal that was severely injured then left to die slowly in a trash can with complete disregard for it's life. There is the fact that a man is allowed to remove this severely injured animal so callously by yanking it up by it's back legs and throwing it in the back of his truck(while it is still alive) to remove potential evidence - even though he was told not to by an Animal Control officer. There is the fact that law enforcement officers who spoke to this man after he removed the cat did not insist that he bring the evidence(cat) back for the Animal Control officer, regardless of whether they were going to be prosecuting the case or not. Officer Hensley told them what was going on and even said that he wanted to charge him with Animal Cruelty. ANY law enforcement officer would be aware that evidence would be important.

When I asked the Sheriff why they had not prosecuted this man under the Animal Cruelty Laws, I was told that there wasn't enough evidence. Well, the trash person saw it for one, Nick Hensley saw it for two, and three the sheriff's deputies heard it from the shooter's mouth that he did it and the cat was in the stump!

There are more cats on the property. They are not feral cats. They are beautiful, friendly cats. There are also many cats and dogs and children in this neighborhood. Shooting cats is not a rational activity. What's next?

Anonymous said...

Why did it take so long for the report to be released from Animal Control? How do we find out if they are going to prosecute him as a misdemeanor or a felony? He needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law! The cat that was still alive had been suffering. The first four cats that were killed could be a misdemeanor under 16-12-4 (Title 16 Animal Cruelty Laws), however, when he dumped the cat still living with such brutal injuries, he caused unimaginable suffering.Section c states that would constitute aggravated cruelty to animals when "he or she knowingly and maliciously causes death or physical harm to an animal by rendering a part of such animal's body useless or by seriously disfiguring such animal." This would be a felony.