Fired Deputy Pleads Not Guilty to Animal Cruelty

EMORY (AP) – A fired East Texas sheriff’s deputy has pleaded not guilty to an animal cruelty charge in the shooting of a farm dog that was later euthanized. KLTV reports a lawyer for Jerrod Dooley entered the plea Wednesday in Emory. Rains County Sheriff David Traylor fired Dooley, saying the rookie deputy used bad judgment during the April 18 burglary call near Point. The sheriff’s office and Dooley received numerous threats following the shooting of a blue heeler named Candy. Dooley has said the dog charged him before he opened fire. Jail records show Dooley was arrested May 27 and was freed the next day on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond. His attorney, Pete Schulte of Dallas, says a necropsy shows the bullet Dooley fired wasn’t fatal and that the dog might have survived had its owner not drowned it to euthanize it.