Woman Who Duct-Taped Dog’s Mouth Shut Charged With Cruelty To Animals (Video)

One woman’s inhumane treatment of her dog led to international outrage and a three-state hunt to find her.

Katie Brown thought wrapping duct tape around her dog’s mouth to stop him from barking was a good idea, and posted a photo of the muzzled pup to Facebook. “This is what happens when you don’t shut up!!!,” she wrote, seemingly quite proud of herself.

Immediately, comments begging her to remove the tape and take down the photo poured in. Some of her friends and family chastised her, and one relative even said she was unfriending her online and in real life. 

Brown defended her actions and claiming the dog was muzzled only for a minute, but the post went viral, being viewed over 380,000 times.

It also drew tens of thousands of people to call what they thought was her local police department, causing the City of South Daytona, Florida to make seven people work overtime over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and several media reports, including the above “Today” show video from Monday.

EARLIER: No, Woman Who Posted Viral Photo Of Her Dog’s Mouth Being Duct-Taped Hasn’t Been Arrested

Brown, who is actually 45-year old Katharine F. Lemansky, was thought to also be in Connecticut, where she owns property, but surprised tenant at her address assured police she wasn’t there. 

Finally, she was tracked down to North Carolina. She has been ordered to appear in Wake County court December 14 on an animal cruelty charge, according to Cary, NC police.

For now, the dog remains with Lemansky after Cary Police Capt. Randall Rhyne said cops examined him and found him to be Cary “very well cared for,” NBC News reports.

Capt. Rhyne agreed that “taping the dog’s muzzle shut was a terrible decision on Ms. Lemansky’s part, and charging her with animal cruelty under North Carolina law was the right thing to do.”

 

Image: Screenshot via WFLA