CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield woman has pleaded guilty for neglecting to properly dispose of her dog after it was allegedly beaten to death by an intoxicated man.
Angela Ricketts, 31, of Clearfield had a non-traffic citation filed against her by Clearfield Borough police for not disposing of a domestic animal carcass within 48 hours, a summary offense.
According to the citation, Ricketts neglected to bury or properly dispose of the dog within the aforementioned timeframe. More specifically, it died Feb. 2 and was not buried until March 4.
In February, Ralph Thomas Brown III, 29, of Clearfield was charged by police with animal cruelty, disorderly conduct, loitering and prowling at nighttime and public drunkenness.
According to the affidavit of probable cause in the Brown case, at 5:14 a.m. Feb. 2, Clearfield County 911 dispatched borough police officers to a report about a deceased dog in a box behind a North Fifth Street residence. The caller alleged that it had been there overnight after being kicked to death by an African-American male.
Police located the deceased dog in a container covered with a towel and blanket. It appeared to be “very young in age,” and officers observed what appeared to be blood on its left, front paw area. Officers also observed what appeared to be blood on the towel used to cover it, and a small, open wound on its left neck area, along with light abrasions.
Police made contact with the owner, Ricketts, and asked what happened to her deceased dog. She told police Brown had been at her residence at approximately 8 p.m. Feb. 1, and while he was intoxicated, he made statements about “he didn’t like the dog and he wanted to kill something.”
Ricketts told police she left the residence for a short time to go to Sheetz on Nichols Street. When she returned she asked Brown where her dog was at, and he told her it was outside “but don’t walk down the alley, you’ll find something.” Brown eventually led her to the dog, which was in a small playhouse to the rear of a North Fifth Street residence.
Ricketts told police the dog was alive but had blood coming from its mouth and nose. She took it back to her residence, where it died a short time later. She said it was cleaned and placed outside until it could be taken to a veterinary office to see what happened to the dog. She told police she then asked Brown to leave her residence, which he did.
Another female who was at the residence said she was in another room when Brown had apparently gone outside with the dog. However, she confirmed that Brown was highly intoxicated and made comments about not liking the dog and wanting to kill something.
On Feb. 2 borough police transported the deceased dog from the station to the Allegheny Spay & Neuter Clinic. It was an approximately four-month-old pit bull/terrier mix puppy.
According to the veterinary report, there was a laceration on the left jaw, red marks and bruising around the throat, a bruise on the inside of the left, rear leg, two minor scratches on the abdomen and one on the tail and blood coming from the mouth and nose.
The report also indicated that the deceased dog’s abdominal cavity was filled with blood. There were multiple lacerations to the liver, the lungs were hemorrhaged and there was blood in the thoracic cavity. It concluded that the cause of death was severe blunt force trauma, which made the dog bleed to death.
During an interview with police, Brown admitted he was drinking vodka heavy and intoxicated. He recalled choking the dog with his hands and putting it inside the playhouse, according to the affidavit.
In his written statement to police, he admitted again to being intoxicated on the night in question. But after heavy thinking, he was admitting that he hurt the dog. He also wrote he was apologetic and would never act like this sober.
