North Texas

Weatherford Man Arrested, Accused of Breaking Dog's Neck: Sheriff

"This was an atrocious act -- as bad as we have ever seen"

What to Know

  • Kyle Rufus Childers is accused of breaking an abandoned dog's neck and putting its body in a dumpster, according to authorities.
  • The dog was abandoned by a resident of the trailer park, who was also arrested.
  • Childers told another resident he broke the dog's neck because the dog was bothering him.

Parker County Sheriff's deputies arrested a 25-year-old Weatherford man on charges of animal cruelty, after authorities say he broke an abandoned dog's neck and put its body in a dumpster.

Deputies said another resident in the 5300 block of FM 51, who cared for the dog after its owner left, saw Kyle Rufus Childers dragging the dog's body from the back of his property. Authorities found the body Tuesday.[[488839501, R]]

Childers told the resident he broke the dog's neck because the dog was bothering him, according to Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler.

The resident told authorities Childers then continued on to the front of the trailer park and put the dog's body in a dumpster.

The dog's owner, 39-year-old Anthony Leigh West, was arrested on a charge of cruelty to non-livestock animals, abandonment.

Authorities said West told them he drove the dog to "a nearby farm and let it go," but the dog apparently returned to the trailer park.

"This was an atrocious act - as bad as we have ever seen," Fowler said. "This poor dog was first abandoned by its owner and ultimately met a gruesome death by the violent hands of another. He only knew love for a brief moment though a stranger who tried to care. Even that was stripped away from him when the suspect broke this dog's neck, displaying a blatant disrespect for the life of a beautiful creature."

Following Childers' arrest, the North Texas Veterinary Hospital presented Fowler and Parker County Sheriff's Animal Control Supervisor Karen Kessler with a donation to the Sheriff's Animal Cruelty Relief Fund.

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