Duct Tape Dog Owner Found: Katharine Lemansky Charged With Animal Cruelty
The duct tape dog owner has been found. Katharine F. Lemansky has been identified as the woman who posted a photo to Facebook showing her dog with its mouth wrapped shut with duct tape last Friday. The image sparked a heated debate on the social media platform and nationwide outrage after dog photos went viral.
Viral photo of dog with duct tape wrapped around mouth sparks outrage on social media https://t.co/75iGWnyZCE pic.twitter.com/IIUmGOzhi6
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 30, 2015
The duct tape dog photos posted to Facebook prompted a flurry of phone calls to two police departments in Connecticut, MSN reports. Katharine Lemansky, 45, posted the horrific images of the chocolate Labrador retriever on a Facebook account opened under the username Katie Brown.
On Black Friday, Lemansky, a Cary, North Carolina, resident, posted the duct tape dog photo and posted a caption which read, “This is what happens when you don’t shut up!!!” on Facebook.
In a statement released by the Cary Police Department after the animal cruelty charges were filed, Captain Randall Rhyne said, “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.”
That Woman Who Taped Her Dog’s Mouth Shut Has Been Charged With Animal Cruelty https://t.co/u9yNRpnErg pic.twitter.com/MTMOOugAuj
— MTV News (@MTVNews) December 1, 2015
The Katie Brown Facebook account listed the poster’s address at a home in South Daytona, Florida. Katharine Lemansky reportedly has ties to Connecticut. She attended Central Connecticut State University and has family living in Avon. The police department in the town where her relatives reside received an onslaught of phone calls, asking officers to look into the duct tape dog incident. The police officers went to the home believed to belong to the Brown family and then determined that the animal cruelty had taken place elsewhere, the Examiner reports.
“We made contact with the occupant of the home, who verified that the person of interest and the dog both reside in Florida,” Avon police Chief Mark Rinaldo told the media on Monday. “We have notified Florida authorities.”
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“Don’t panic everyone it was only for a minute and he hasn’t barked since,” Katie Brown posted on Facebook when communicating with thousands of users who were extremely upset about the woman duct taping the dog’s mouth shut. She defended her actions and refused to remove the photo after receiving both swift and severe backlash.
Captain Ryne had this to say about the decision not to remove the duct tape dog from the home of Katharine Lemansky.
“It’s important to also note that our animal control officers who physically examined both Brown and her littermate found the dogs to be very well cared for, which is why we did not and could not remove them from the owner. The dogs are current on their shots, spayed, and microchipped. They are clean and well-nourished and appear to be comfortable in their surroundings. And there were no signs of injury to Brown’s muzzle, not even detectable hair loss.”
The North Carolina police investigators had the duct tape dog examined by animal control staffers. The dog was given a clean bill of health and found to be well-nourished. The chocolate Lab did not reportedly suffer and trouble to his muzzle due to the duct tape incident.
Katharine Lemansky is scheduled to appear in court on December 14 to answer the animal cruelty charges. If found guilty, she faces up to a sentence of up to 150 days behind bars.
[Image via Facebook]
