Late last month, deputies from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office arrested and charged Charleston Gregory Webb, 55, of Douglas, with cruelty to animals and obstruction after he allegedly killed a dog with a shovel.
According to a sheriff’s office report, deputies responded to an Aubrey Road address regarding an animal complaint. The complainant stated that she had seen her friend’s uncle, Webb, who lived in a shed on the property, beating a dog with a shovel. The complainant videoed the incident but stated that she believed the dog was already dead when she started videoing. The complainant told officers that Webb said he killed the dog because it growled at him. She added that this wasn’t the first dog Webb had killed, the report says.
When deputies arrived, Webb had left the home. He was found walking on Old Axson Road and said that he had come from the Aubrey Road address. When asked about the incident with the dog, the report says that Webb hit the dog with a shovel because he was trying to fight two younger dogs he also owns. When Webb broke up the fight, the older dog growled at him. He then hit the dog with the shovel but said he wasn’t trying to kill the dog because he paid too much money for it.
The officers and Webb went back to the home. Webb showed the officers the dead dog. The officers decided they had enough probable cause to arrest Webb. He asked to call his wife and tell her what was happening. The deputies agreed but the call went to voice mail. According to the report, the officers told Webb he could make another call from the jail. At that point, Webb took off running. He made it across the road and into another yard. When he tried to jump over a fence, he fell down. As he was getting up, the deputies tased him, ending the chase.
Webb was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals in the first degree and obstruction. He was booked into the jail and released on a $1,000 property bond for the cruelty to animals charge and a $500 property bond for the obstruction charge.
