'Gruesome Death By Violent Hands', Man Strangles Abandoned Dog

WEATHERFORD (CBSDFW.COM) - Parker County Sheriff's Deputies are looking for a 25-year-old man who they said strangled a dog.

"This was an atrocious act – as bad as we have ever seen," said Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler. "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."

Animal Control officers and deputies were dispatched to the 5300-block of North FM 51, where a dead dog was discovered in a dumpster Tuesday afternoon.

A witness told authorities he saw Kyle Rufus Childers of Weatherford drag the dog from the back of his home. The dog was recently abandoned, according to the witness in the trailer park by its previous owner, later identified as Anthony Leigh West, 39, of Weatherford.

The witness was caring for the dog, providing it with food and water before Childers allegedly killed it. When the witness observed Childers dragging the dog from the back of his property, they confronted him.

Childers then told the witness, the dog was bothering him so 'he broke its neck." The witness then observed Childers continue to drag the dog to the front of the park and disposed of it in a dumpster.

The dog was taken to a local veterinarian where X-rays were taken, providing evidence that the animal had died from a broken neck.

West laster implicated himself to investigators in the abandonment by stating the dog "had gotten out" for several days and "upon its return, it started destroying the park, so he drove it to a nearby farm and let it go."

He was arrested Wednesday on a charge of cruelty to non-livestock animals, abandonment.

Once found, investigators said Childers faces a charge of cruelty to non-livestock animals causing death.

Anyone with information regarding the location of Childers is encouraged to contact the Sheriff's Office at (817) 594.8845, or the Parker County Crime Stoppers hotline at (817) 599.5555.

Parker County Crime Stoppers will pay up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to this arrest.