Abuse, neglect of surrendered dog leads to arrests

6:24 p.m. UPDATE:
Two Young County men turned themselves in Thursday evening at the Young County Jail on warrants for charges of cruelty to non-livestock animals.

Jeffery Logan and Zackery Anderson turned themselves in at the Young County Sheriff’s Office after investigators obtained warrants for their arrest Thursday, March 23. Both were charged with cruelty to non-livestock animals, a Class A misdemeanor, in relation to the abuse and neglect of Niko.

According to the Texas Penal Code, a Class A misdemeanor is punishable by a fine not to exceed $4,000, confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one year, or both fine and confinement.

Editor’s Note: The interview with the Humane Society of Young County was conducted the morning prior to Niko’s passing.

Niko, a Dogo Argentino dog which was surrendered to the Humane Society of Young County last week, died Thursday after an emergency surgery discovered his injuries were too severe to repair. Due to the neglect and abuse of Niko, the owner, Jeffery Logan, was forced to surrender him to the shelter.

According to HSYC, when Niko was surrendered, he was anemic due to hook, whip and tapeworms and the shelter had set up a refeeding schedule with weigh-ins. Along with a condition called entropion, which is an inversion or inward turning of the eyelid, he had pressure sores on his bottom and had fungal, yeast and bacterial infections in his ears. Niko also required continual treatment to his genital area.

“It’s one of the worst neglect, like as far as starvation, emaciated cases that I’ve seen in here,” HSYC Board President Heather Allen said. “I mean, we’ve had a few, but I think he’s by far the worst.”

According to HSYC Director Shelby Brogdon, the first call she received to assist Niko was in January 2021, in what she referred to as a “prolonged starvation case.”

“I think this is the first case that we’ve had where the dog has been starving for years, like it’s been given enough food along the way to sustain life, but it’s been in a starving state for such a long period of time,” Brodgon said. “(...) Starving dogs can get problems with their gut, their intestines (…) and they can have damage that is permanent.”

There were photos taken of Niko with his shelter being a plastic blue barrel in his pen. Brogdon said she personally took pictures of the dog in February 2022.

“I personally got in my car and drove out and parked on the side of the highway and took pictures of this dog in February 2022, before that big ice storm came through,” Brogdon said. “As the ice was starting to fall, I called the sheriff’s department at that point and said, ‘Hey, this dog doesn’t have shelter out here. I’m looking at it right now,’ and I said, ‘I’d like it if you can follow up with me.’ He called me back and said, ‘I called him and he said he’s going to put a tarp up.’”

The owner’s son-in-law, Zackery Anderson, surrendered Niko to the shelter Thursday, March 16. Niko was taken to the veterinarian Friday, March 17 and he returned to the shelter Saturday, March 18. He was taken back to the veterinarian the morning of Thursday, March 23 after refusing food.

“Niko woke up uncomfortable this morning and refused food. He was taken to the vet where they did emergency surgery. Sadly, the findings were too severe to fix, so Niko was sadly given his wings,” HSYC wrote on its Facebook page Thursday.

Young County Sheriff Travis Babcock said his office was paying for a necropsy, which is a post-mortem examination on an animal.

“I’m frustrated about the whole thing. I’m frustrated that someone can continue to think they can have animals whenever they can’t take care of them (…) just like this guy here, treating them inhumane,” Babcock said. “So to say that I don’t care about an animal is untrue. I do care about animals.”
Babcock said the investigation into Niko’s abuse is ongoing.

Brogdon said the Young County Sheriff’s Office visited the reported property and had obtained dogs from the owner in the past. Brogdon said when Niko was surrendered, a YCSO deputy came to the humane society.

“A deputy has come out here, talking about charges. I told him anything he needed on our end, questions, anything I can do to help further this case, to let me know,” she said. “So I’m hopeful that maybe this will open up some communication between us and the sheriff’s department and will help us be able to work together.”

An online fundraiser has been started for HSYC in memory of Niko. Donations can be made at gofund.me/78d3dafb or directly to the humane society. Before Niko died, Allen, who was also fostering Niko, said the abuse he suffered did not affect his spirit.

“Niko means victory of the people (...) so we’re hoping he’s victorious and he is able to overcome all of this,” Allen said. “Behavior-wise, he’s great. It’s amazing how great he is. I took him to the softball field the other night so he could meet the person that has been calling him in for so long. (...) He got to meet a few people, but the kids, every time the kids would walk by and ask, ‘Can I pet your dog?’ and he would just wiggle and give them kisses. It hasn’t hurt him behavior-wise at all. I mean, he is so loving and it’s incredible to see that because sometimes it affects them the opposite.”