This photo, provided by the Change 4 Bartholomew County Animal Advocacy group, shows Thor’s condition prior to his death.
Photo provided
Two arrest warrants have been filed against the owner of a deceased dog whose alleged mistreatment angered a large animal rights group.
Benjamin D. Collins, 35, of 596 Falcon Drive, is charged with cruelty to an animal, accused of recklessly, knowingly or intentionally abandoning or neglecting the animal, court records state.
Under normal circumstances, the charge against Collins, a resident of the Bethel Village subdivision, is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine. However, the charge could be raised to a Level 6 felony if the defendant has a prior unrelated conviction for a similar offense, according to state statutes.
Besides cruelty to an animal, Collins is also wanted on a petition to revoke probation, according to Bartholomew County Sheriff Department spokeswoman Judy Jackson.
Last June, Collins was placed on probation for 18 months after admitting in court he made a false statement regarding his criminal history. When the cruelty to animal charge was filed, prosecutors also filed paperwork that accused Collins of breaking the terms of his suspended sentence.
In regard to the dog, the case against Collins was outlined in a probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday by sheriff department Detective William R. Kinman Jr.
Kinman wrote that on Nov. 2, he was assigned to investigate a three-week-old report of animal cruelty at Collins’ home on Falcon Drive regarding a Mastiff mix dog named Thor. Kinman wrote that he was told by Bartholomew County Animal Control Officer Mark Case that he had received a call of concern about Thor’s well-being from Tammie Hawley, who lived next door to Collins.
When Case located the dog, Thor appeared to be in poor health, so he took the animal to the Bartholomew County Humane Society, Kinman wrote. After being examined by a veterinarian technician, Thor was taken to “Tails of Freedom,” a rescue and rehabilitation center for animals in Sellersburg, according to court documents.
The detective also wrote that while Case provided him with three photographs showing the canine looking extremely skinny, the animal control officer said he could not determine if the dog was not being fed — or if the dog was suffering from a medical condition.
When he began discussing the matter with the dog’s owner, Case said Collins told him he had been feeding Purina Beneful dog food to the Mastiff mix, the affidavit states.
It was during this interview that Collins told Case he had been upset with his neighbors because they had been feeding and watering his dog. Later, Hawley told the detective that Collins had confronted both her and her life partner because they had contacted Case, Kinman wrote.
It wasn’t the first time Thor had been seen by the Sellersburg rescue group. He had also been treated there in 2019 for possible abuse, Kinman wrote.
By the time the detective made contact with rescue center representative Bobbie Jo Becker, Thor had already died and was scheduled to be sent to Purdue University for a necropsy, an animal autopsy. Kinman wrote he was told that while a Mastiff mix the size and breed of Thor should weigh near 150 pounds, the canine only weighed 72 pounds shortly before his death.
Although a mass was found on the dog, Becker said it should not have caused death, but should have been treated by a veterinarian, the affidavit stated. She also advised that Thor’s kidneys were working double time and the liver numbers were high due to him starving, Kinman wrote.
Becker also advised that dog’s muscles had broken down to the degree where his bones could be counted due to his large loss of weight.
While Becker said that she would send Kinman photographs and a copy of the necropsy when the results came back, she became “upset” and began questioning why Thor was sent back to Collins in 2019 for similar mistreatment.
In Bethel Village, Hawley told the detective she had been trying to feed and water Thor for three years, because he was left outside with no food, no water and no shelter other than a pine tree that was in the backyard, the affidavit stated.
Hawley said she decided to call Case in mid-October after seeing Thor had become so thin that his back legs looking like “shovels,” Kinman wrote. While Bartholomew County Animal Control told Hawley they would take Thor to the humane society and fine the owner, the dog would still probably be returned to the owner and that charges were not filed last time Thor was taken in 2019, the detective stated in court documents.
The charges were filed eight days after two representatives of the Change 4 Bartholomew County Animal Advocacy group used the story of Thor, as well as another dog, to submit suggestions for new ordinances regarding the tethering of dogs, as well as providing humane care for dogs during weather extremes.
Two commissioners said they were not prepared to make stricter definitions and regulations concern animal rights just two months after they passed stricter regulations for breeding dogs and cats.
But advocacy group spokeswoman Nancy Ray said her organization has 760 members. She wrote last week on social media that a petition requesting “Justice For Thor” that was sent to local prosecutors had garnered 2,000 signatures in just six days.
