Animal Cruelty
Camera catches man in the act of dumping dog in southern Dallas
After decades of suspected animal dumping on an infamous street in southeast Dallas, someone was finally caught in the act on camera and will be charged with animal cruelty.
On September 11, Gorge Spears, 62, of Balch Springs, turned himself in to authorities after an arrest warrant was issued by the Dallas County District Attorney's Office and the SPCA of Texas that same day. Spears was charged with cruelty to animals, a Class A misdemeanor, for abandoning a one-year-old black-and-white female dog near Teagarden Road at Dowdy Ferry Road in southern Dallas. Criminal charges have been filed against him.
Dowdy Ferry Road has become notorious as one of the area's biggest dumping ground for all kinds of materials, including tires and other illegal trash. Many dead and roaming loose animals have been discovered in the area. In 2015, the city of Dallas installed cameras to monitor the Dowdy Ferry area.
The SPCA posted a recording on its Facebook page of the crime taken by the cameras that had been installed in the area by the Dallas Marshal's office. This is the first time these cameras have captured an incident of alleged animal cruelty that has led to an arrest.
The dog, named Claira-Belle, was originally found late at night on August 5 by members of a citizen volunteer group called the Dowdy Ferry Animal Commission, which has spent the past two years tracking animal dumping in the area. The group had also installed its own set of cameras. They contacted Dallas Animal Services, who rescued the abandoned dog and took her to the shelter.
The SPCA of Texas became involved on August 18, when they began an investigation. Claira-Belle was transferred to the SPCA on August 22, and adopted on September 9.
During the investigation, the SPCA tracked down Gorge Spears, who admitted on September 8 that he had dumped the dog, saying that he was trying to help his sister by getting rid of the dog because his sister was unable to control her. This admission led the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office’s and SPCA of Texas’ Animal Cruelty Investigator to file the arrest warrant.
Spears has a long record of arrests on misdemeanor crimes, mostly involving trucking and transportation issues such as expired drivers license, unregistered vehicles, and excessively heavy loads.
