Police: Woman Tapes Dog's Mouth Shut

Salisbury, NC--(WJZY)-Police say a woman told authorities she put duct tape around her dog's mouth, thinking it would be funny. Her alleged prank led the Rowan County sheriff's office to charge her with animal cruelty.

A report came into the sheriff's office saying a woman taped her dog's mouth shut because she thought her dog was barking too much. According to an arrest report, Kimberly Ann Howell, 25, took pictures of her young mixed breed dog with duct tape around its mouth. She posted the pictures on Facebook with the caption, "hah hah." People immediately began writing negative comments about Howell's stunt on her Facebook page, so she took the pictures down, but left them on her phone. When police visited her house, they found 5 pictures of the dog's mouth duct taped shut on Howell's phone.

Howell told police she only left the duct tape on her dog's mouth long enough to take the pictures. When police checked out the dog, they didn't see any visible signs of abuse, but the pictures alone were enough to charge Howell with misdemeanor animal cruelty.

Animal Control decided the dog could stay in Howell's care since there were no physical signs of abuse, but police told her they could follow up any time to check on the dog's well being.