A woman accused of driving 3 miles while dragging a dog attached to her vehicle’s back door has been charged with mistreatment of animals.
The medium-sized, white dog was bloody and unresponsive when the sheriff’s department stopped the vehicle of Jordan Mcdonald on Jan. 10 at the intersection of Military Road and state Highway 22 in Stiles. It died shortly after the officer removed the nylon rope that had tightened around its neck.
Mcdonald, 28, of Oconto, made an initial appearance Jan. 11 in Oconto County Circuit Court on the felony charge, where bond was set at $10,000 cash. She is also charged with a misdemeanor, disorderly conduct. She returns to court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing.
According to a criminal complaint, Mcdonald was turned away when she asked to stay at a home on Tower Drive Road in Stiles and spun out of the driveway, getting stuck in the snow. A man at the home told authorities he yelled at Mcdonald to tell her the dog’s leash was tied to or caught in the door before she left, but Mcdonald did not acknowledge this. She put the vehicle in four-wheel drive and left the home.
When stopped by authorities, Mcdonald told them there was no dog tied to her vehicle. On seeing the dog, she indicated the man had tied the dog to the door.
The mistreatment charge carries a penalty of not more than three years, six months in prison and a fine of $10,000. Because of prior offenses for resisting/obstructing an officer, battery and disorderly conduct, she is being tried as a repeat offender, and maximum imprisonment terms may be increased by two years.
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