- voiceforus
- Jul 11, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 16, 2024
- Indiana, USA -
28-year-old JACQUEL LEMAR WALKER (pictured) is facing two misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty for beating his two puppies.
According to the Probable Cause Affidavit obtained by Voice For Us, on May 27, 2023, Officer Werling with Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control (FWACC), responded to “an active malicious treatment complaint.” When Officer Werling arrived, Fort Wayne Police Department Officers were already at the scene speaking with the reporting parties, WALKER’s girlfriend and her mother.
The girlfriend advised Officers that WALKER “had been beating his two puppies.” The Affidavit identified the furvictims as a 4 ½-month-old female black Labrador mix named Coco and a 4 ½-month-old male black Labrador mix named Mook.
The girlfriend said that WALKER “had been consistently throwing, punching, and smacking Mook and Coco”, stated the Affidavit.
When Officer Werling asked the girlfriend whether she had seen WALKER abuse the puppies, the girlfriend answered that very day, she saw WALKER throw Mook off the back porch steps and that was “the last straw” for her. The girlfriend went on to say that neither she or WALKER “have been able to afford to purchase food for Mook and Coco, admitting the dogs were also not being fed on a regular basis.” The last time the poor souls had some food was the night before!
At that point, the girlfriend’s mother intervened to tell Officers that although she was not financially capable of providing for the puppies, she tried to help with food. She confirmed that Coco and Mook were not being fed regularly. The woman also stated that although she did not witness WALKER beating Coco and Mook that day, she heard them yelp out in pain.
While Officer Werling was speaking with the two women, Fort Wayne Police Officers were inside the home talking to WALKER. According to police, at one point WALKER led the Officers to the kennel housing Coco and Mook and when he lifted the blanket covering the kennel, “both puppies appeared to be cowering away from Walker.”
Officers reported that Coco and Mook “seemed to be genuinely terrified of Walker.” However, they were very friendly with the Officers. Even when Officer Werling entered the home, Coco and Mook were roaming free at that point, they did not hesitate to approach her and kept avoiding WALKER.
Officer Werling began to pet Coco and she noticed “what appeared to be scleral hemorrhaging in her eyes.”
According to the Affidavit, the girlfriend “signed a release to allow FWACC to take the puppies into protective custody.”
Coco and Mook were then taken to Northeast Indiana Emergency and Specialty Hospital (NIVES) to complete an initial cruelty exam. Dr. Kathleen Whittington, DVM, reported that Coco appeared to have evidence of ocular trauma and front limb lameness.
Following this report, Officer Werling telephoned the girlfriend to clarify which puppy WALKER had thrown off the steps. The girlfriend said that WALKER used both hands to pick up Mook by the neck, raised him to approximately shoulder height and then threw him off the porch. She also said that WALKER had done the same thing with Coco but she did not see it happen that day.
The girlfriend advised Officer Werling that she and WALKER “tried to surrender Mook and Coco to a shelter in Ohio, but the shelter would not take either puppy because Mook had a broken paw.” The girlfriend further advised that she did not know that Mook had a broken paw.
After an initial examination conducted by Dr. Whittington, Coco and Mook underwent tests with Dr. Andrew Riebe, DVM and were X-rayed.
With regard to Mook, Dr. Riebe found “multiple rib fractures at different stages of healing”, indicating that he suffered a minimum of two separate occasions of severe blunt force trauma.
Çoco's exam was indicative of blunt force trauma which resulted in injury at minimum to her right eye, right thoracic front limb, and left dorsal-lateral trunk.
The findings indicated that that the injury to the right eye was not the only injury suffered by Coco and that multiple areas of her body had been traumatized.
More information also emerged from Coco’s blood test. Results showed supranormal creatine kinase (CK) serum level, a strong indicator of skeletal muscle injury, as well as persistently increased CK level at minimum 72 hours after the traumatic event occurred. This indicates that the severe skeletal muscle injury likely occurred at the time of the trauma.
On May 30, 2024, the girlfriend called Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control to inquire about the results of Coco and Mook’s medical examinations. A member of staff asked her whether she was planning on claiming the puppies when FWACC was done with their investigation, and she said the puppies could not stay with her because WALKER would keep beating them. She wanted the puppies adopted into good homes.
On July 9, 2024, Allen County Prosecutor Michael McAlexander filed an Affidavit for Probable Cause which was examined by the Court and a warrant was issued for WALKER’s arrest for two counts of abandoned or neglected animal.
Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control tells me that Coco and Mook, now named Duke, were adopted in June 2023. The agency kindly provided me with their pictures.
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Disclaimer: This story is sourced from the Probable Cause Affidavit provided to Voice For Us.
Please note that details may be removed or new information added should updates become available.
In the case of charges being dropped, dismissed, or the case being purged, this article will be rectified accordingly, if official documentation is provided to Voice For Us.
WALKER’s mugshot provided to Voice For Us by the Allen County Sheriff’s Department
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