At a hearing on Friday Feb. 20, 2015, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White determined there was enough evidence to have William Meek, 47 -- the man who allegedly tied a dog to a bowling ball and drowned it in the American River -- face trial on a felony count of maliciously and intentionally killing an animal.

The dog, a 12-year-old border collie named Zelda, was found floating in the American  River on June 16, 2014 near Sacramento’s River Park neighborhood.

According to Gina Knepp, city animal care manager, when the dog was found, it had a retractable leash attached to its collar. The other end of the leash was tied to a bowling bag, which contained a bowling ball and a large rock. Despite this payload, the dog was floating when it was found in the American River.

“The dog was alive when it entered the river,” Knepp said. “It’s a terrible case.”

 A necropsy confirmed drowning as the dog’s cause of death; it also revealed signs of trauma around the dog’s neck, presumably from struggling to free itself and survive.

Animal control officials began investigating and found the dog had been microchipped, which allowed them to determine it had come into the city animal shelter as a stray in 2008  (see above photo composite, i.e. a 2008 shelter photo of Zelda.. and the bowling ball bag and leash used to drown her).   (Web site references to Sacramento Bee articles covering this gruesome event are provided at the end of this petition).

TO ALL VIEWERS OF THIS PETITION:    PLEASE NOT ONLY SIGN AND BROADLY SPREAD THIS PETITION BUT ALSO THE FOLLOWING GLOBAL CHANGE.ORG PETITION TO ELEVATE THE LEGAL STATUS OF COMPANION ANIMALS;  IT IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT AND FUNDAMENTAL TO STRENGTHENING ANIMAL CRUELTY/ABUSE LAWS AND PENALTIES EVERYWHERE.

http://www.change.org/petitions/w-ron-dehaven-exec-vice-president-american-veterinary-medical-association-avma-stop-veterinary-opposition-to-elevating-the-legal-status-of-companion-animals-instead-pro-actively-sponsor-such-legislation-at-the-state-all-states-and-federal-level?utm_source=guides&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=petition_created

The significance of 'Zelda' and other cases like it extends well beyond cruelty to animals.  Please see the following piece written by the Animal Legal Defense Fund:  "No Boundaries for Abusers: The Link Between Cruelty to Animal and Violence Towards Humans".

http://aldf.org/resources/when-your-companion-animal-has-been-harmed/no-boundaries-for-abusers-the-link-between-cruelty-to-animals-and-violence-toward-humans/

 In the above petition to Elevate the Legal Status of Companion Animals, ALSO PLEASE ESPECIALLY NOTE THE REFERENCE TO THE SHOCKING 2013 ARTICLE BY THE ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND (ALDF), i.e.:

"BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE:   VET & PET INDUSTRY GROUPS BETRAY ANIMALS" 

http://aldf.org/blog/barking-up-the-wrong-tree-vet-pet-industry-groups-betray-animals

Please consider signing, and broadly spreading, all of our several petitions to help companion animals; petition titles and links are provided in our FEB. 25, 2015 blog at www.standupfordogs.tumblr.com

THANK YOU very much.

Stand Up for Dogs    www.standupfordogs.com  

Please see our blogs at www.standupfordogs.com/blog

“Like” us at http://www.facebook.com/standupfordogs 

Contact us:  info@standupfordogs.com 

 

Web sites of Sacramento Bee articles re Zelda: 

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article10788149.html ;

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article2614462.html 

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article2615651.html

 http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article3589018.html