Omaha man charged with felony neglect after asking animal control to euthanize his dog

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - An Omaha man is facing a felony charge after he called animal control to euthanize a dog in his care that was found to be suffering from severe neglect.

“This case depicts a person that should never have owned an animal; someone that left a pet who is solely dependent on him to suffer through unimaginable conditions,” Steve Glandt, Nebraska Humane Society vice president of field operations, said in an email to 6 News.

WARNING: Some may find the details of this story to be graphic.

NHS told 6 News on Thursday that they had received a call from Terrance Feairs on Feb. 26 about euthanizing his 3-year-old dog.

Glandt said that when the NHS Animal Control officer responded to the call, he thought the dog was already dead.

It wasn’t.

The animal control officer responding to the call reported that the dog had numerous sores over its body and was so extremely emaciated that it was evident even from a distance.

“The animal control officer described the dog in his report as a ‘skeleton with skin draped on it,’ ” Glandt said.

The dog was immediately taken in for emergency care, but it was determined that the best course of action was to humanely euthanize the dog because the had developed sepsis after digesting foreign bodies and was suffering numerous other conditions that would not allow for recovery, Glandt said.

Animal control called the dog’s living conditions “deplorable.” The dog was apparently confined to a restricted area where it would eat, sleep, defecate, and urinate.

Feairs apparently said the animal had been in very poor health for a year and a half and admitted that he had not taken the animal to a veterinarian.

“Feairs said he had bought the dog approximately three years ago and still had not named it,” Glandt said. “When asked what sex the dog was, Feairs said that he would have to look.”

Feairs was cited for not having a pet license or proof of the dog’s vaccination as well as cruelty to animals, and public nuisance due to unsanitary conditions.

After the Humane Society reviewed the case, the cruelty charge was upgraded to a Class 4 felony: animal neglect or cruelty resulting in injury or death.

Feairs was in Douglas County Court on Thursday afternoon. He was released on his own recognizance but is not allowed to have any animals at his house.

His preliminary hearing was set for April 24.

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Assistant News Director Cassie Crowe contributed to this story.

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