Dog killing charges extend to Hamburg, Iowa, mayor

[Omaha Steve]

Remember the story I posted a while back? Here is an update.

Published Wednesday
March 1, 2006

Dog killing charges extend to Hamburg, Iowa, mayor

BY ELIZABETH AHLIN


WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

The mayor of Hamburg, Iowa, has become the second person charged in the killing of seven dogs that were removed from a rental property last fall.

Mayor Terry Holliman turned himself in Tuesday at the Fremont County Courthouse in Sidney, Iowa. He was released on his own recognizance.

Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber charged Holliman with seven misdemeanor counts of animal abuse. If convicted, he faces up to two years in prison for each count.

Hamburg Police Chief Nick Millsap, who was charged on Feb. 16, also faces seven misdemeanor counts of animal abuse.

Under Iowa law, Wilber said, an employer is liable for crimes committed by employees if the employer directed the activity or permitted it to happen.

Millsap testified in a civil lawsuit in the case that he spoke to Holliman before he and another officer shot and killed the dogs.

The mayor could not be reached Tuesday for comment. He has criticized the Fremont County Sheriff's Office for its handling of the incident.

Holliman is serving his second term as mayor. He was elected in 1999.

Millsap, at the request of a landlord, removed the animals from a rental home where they had been left unsupervised.

He has said that he called the sheriff's dispatcher, who told him that the county veterinarian did not have room for the dogs.

The dispatcher suggested that the dogs needed "a big bang," according to a transcript of the call. The dispatcher, Deborah Weiss, later received a letter of reprimand.

Millsap shot six of the dogs, crushing one dog's head with his foot when it continued to breathe afterward, according to court testimony. Police Officer Jarid Means, who killed one dog, has not been charged.

The dogs' owner, Elizabeth Brock, successfully sued Millsap and the City of Hamburg in Small Claims Court and was awarded $3,500.

World-Herald staff writer Tom Shaw contributed to this report.

Contact the Omaha World-Herald newsroom

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1638&u_sid=2125763

[Critters2]

1. I saw this in the Register

www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060301/NEWS01/603010360&SearchID=73237262347474

[Robeson]

2. Something is rotten in Hamburg....

....and this is just one little town. Multiply this around the U.S. and other communities, and it's probably happening a lot, but just passes under the radar screen. Clearly, there's a lot of work to be done, not just legally, but in reeducating people so that they grasp the concept that ALL life has value.