By Pat Culverhouse

Brutally killing an animal that had been left in his care by a family friend has put a Doyline man in Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center on a charge of aggravated cruelty to animals. 

Webster Parish Sheriff Jason Parker identified the individual as Jeremy Shane Patterson, 48, a resident of the 200 block of Fuller St. in Doyline. Parker said Patterson is being held in lieu of a $50,000 bond.

Parker said Sgt. Alec Edwards, Lt. Chase Walsworth, Deputy J.C. Brown and Maj. Robert Hayden responded to a call from the owner of the Fuller St. residence who claimed to have seen a dog, dead in a bathtub and still covered with water. Patterson reportedly was living at the residence where the animal was discovered.

“While talking to the person who called, our officers learned Patterson had allegedly sent a text message saying he had drowned the dog,” Parker said. “The homeowner had been asked by the dog’s owner to inquire about the animal after that text was received.”

Parker said additional texts revealed Patterson claimed to have struck the dog 10 times with an exercise weight. When those blows did not kill the animal, Patterson allegedly said in another text that he drowned it in the bathtub.

“When our officers personally observed the dog, it was still in the bathtub with a belt cinched very tightly around its neck,” he said.

Parker said the brutality displayed in killing the animal was unthinkable.

“The vicious way this poor dog was killed is unimaginable,” he said. “To do something like this to a defenseless animal is cruel beyond belief, and we simply will not tolerate it. We urge the people of our parish to report any crime, and that includes mistreatment of animals.”

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.