Woman Accused Of Binding 3-Month-Old Pup’s Mouth For Barking Faces Charges


It can be difficult to have a dog that barks unnecessarily but on occasion, people may take the effort to stop the dog from doing it too far. That is what happened recently in Murray, when a 19-year-old woman bound the mouth of her dog to keep her from barking. She is now facing felony charges for “torturing a companion animal.”

According to the reports, the dog, Shadow was being tortured by Alexis Marie Callen with an elastic hair tie. The Gephardt Daily reported that she is now being charged with a third-degree felony.

Social media first brought the case to light after something was posted by a rescue organization. At that point, Shadow was taken to Cottonwood Animal Hospital and donations were being solicited by the organization.

“Urgent donations needed! We just got in this sweet little puppy. At this time we do not know what happened to him but he needs medical attention ASAP,” said a Facebook post by Celestial Zoo.

The German Shepherd-Black Labrador retriever mix appears to be severely disfigured in the area of her snout.

A police officer from Murray responded and said that Callen told him openly that she placed the elastic hair tie around the dog’s snout intentionally. It was left in place for 48 hours to keep the dog quiet.

“Alexis had sole custody of the companion animal,” the police statement said, according to Gephardt Daily.

“Alexis acted in a heinous and cruel manner by inflicting an extreme amount of physical pain to the 3-month-old companion animal (black Labrador mix type dog). Alexis denied the dog essential care by refusing to seek veterinarian care,” it said.

Celestial Zoo confirmed the arrest on its Facebook page. “Shadow had to go back to the vet today for a cone, but even though she is not happy about her cone, she is happy to report that thanks to the quick action of the Murray Animal Control officers, an arrest has been made on felony animal abuse charges. We are thrilled at the quick action and hope that justice is found,” said the post.

Shadow had to go back to the vet today for a cone, but even though she is not happy about her cone, she is happy to…

Posted by Celestial Zoo on Tuesday, June 18, 2019

According to Fox35, the injuries to the dog were severe enough that $2000 worth of surgery was necessary. The veterinarian said that two weeks of recovery would be necessary.

“Left side [of her nose], it’s completely open even with her mouth closed,” Caylla Facemyer, Shadow’s new foster owner, said to Fox 13. “You can see into her mouth. It’s pretty bad.”

The media was told by a veterinarian that the injuries seem to indicate that Shadow’s snout was tied for a much longer duration than 48 hours. This was also confirmed by Celeste Deals in a June 18 Facebook post.

“The vet looked it over and cleaned it up. Gave her some antibiotics and pain meds. The left side has already separated and will need surgery. The right side may as well. It looks to be a rubber band or hair tie around her muzzle that caused it, left on for a week or two,” wrote Celestial Zoo.

People on Facebook started to respond to the posts and were in amazement with the severity and the nature of the abuse.

“How could they do that!?! How did she eat and they didn’t see the pain they caused!?! So beyond upsetting,” wrote Maggie Jensen in response to one of Celestial Zoo’s posts.

On Friday, the rescue agency also posted that Shadows surgery will be taking place at a clinic called Blue Pearl. The scheduled surgery will repair the damage to her muzzle.

“It is estimated a 2 week recovery time where she will need to have only soft foods and no chew toys, which is going to be so hard for a puppy! ” said Celestial Zoo.

Shadow has her surgery scheduled! She will have her surgery at Blue Pearl where they will repair the damage to her…

Posted by Celestial Zoo on Friday, June 21, 2019

Gephardt Daily reported that Callen was arrested on an unrelated third-degree felony charge on April 23 that included child endangerment and drug charges.

Her seven-month-old child was malnourished and the apartment was dirty as well as smelling of marijuana.

“A few feet away from the baby was marijuana and various accouterments [sic] of drug paraphernalia,” the statement said, according to Gephardt Daily.

The case has yet to go before a judge.


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