San Joaquin County Deputy Admits To Dumping Dogs In Field During Heat Wave
WOODBRIDGE (CBS13) — A San Joaquin County Sheriff's Deputy is accused of picking up stray dogs and dumping them in a field, in the middle of a heatwave with temperatures soaring past 100 degrees.
CBS13's cameras were there as one of the dogs, who only has three legs, was reunited with its owner.
"I found out than an Officer had dumped him in a field, because there was no shelter that would take him."
Patricia Haggard says her dogs got out on Sunday when they found a loose board in the fence. Neighbors, concerned about the animals' safety, reported the dogs to the sheriff's department.
Haggard learned the deputy found two of the three dogs and tried to take them to animal shelters.
The deputy admitted he dumped the dogs in an empty field with no food and water, because he couldn't find find a shelter that would take them.
"It's a serious situation that we are looking into," a sheriff's department spokesman said, noting an internal-affairs investigation has begun as a result of the allegations.
The family, desperate to find their dogs, made posters and drove around the community looking for them.
During CBS13's report, one of their dogs, a 3-legged pit-bull mix named Bella was found by deputies and taken to a local vet for evaluation.
Now that Bella is back with the family, Patricia says they aren't holding any grudges against the deputy and that she's focused on trying to find their other two dogs.
