Animal cruelty tacked on to drug charges after dead dog found

By Bruce Walton

Elyria police have added an animal cruelty charge to list of drug-related charges a city man is facing after a starved dog was found dead Wednesday in his garage.

Elyria detectives charged Anthony Jackson II, 28, with animal cruelty Wednesday. Jackson already was in the county jail on charges stemming from a Feb. 7 drug investigation, according to a police report. Jackson allegedly told detectives he locked the dog in the garage for “messing” with his marijuana plants, police said.

The Elyria Police Narcotics Unit received a call from the landlord of a home on Jefferson Street who complained of finding a dead dog in the detached garage. Jackson was renting the home, police said.
Police said they found the dog’s body in the garage, which appeared malnourished.

Jackson told officers he had the dog for “a few months” and had locked it in the garage after it “messed” with his marijuana plants in his house. He also told police he thought the dog ran away after the first arrest at his home.

Elyria Police Capt. Chris Costantino said the charges were appropriate after seeing pictures of the dog’s body.

“The condition of the dog was horrific; it was appalling for that poor animal to suffer like that,” he said. “I certainly think based on the facts of the case that the felony certainly justifies itself.”

On Feb. 7, officers said they found Jackson at his home with nearly 3 kilograms of marijuana, an illegal grow operation and a loaded handgun with an oversized magazine. He was charged with the illegal manufacturing of drugs, trafficking in marijuana and possession of marijuana, all third-degree felonies; carrying a concealed weapon, a fourth-degree felony; trafficking and possession of cocaine, possession of LSD and possession of criminal tools, all fifth-degree felonies; obstructing official business and resisting arrest, both second-degree misdemeanors; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a fourth-degree misdemeanor.