Sudbury police: Animal abuse case not local

Despite comments on social media sites to the contrary, a severe case of animal abuse being discussed on Facebook as occurring in Sudbury actually originated in New Jersey, Sudbury police say.

Staff Sgt. Craig Maki said Wednesday that people who expressed concerns to them on Greater Sudbury Police's Facebook page believed the case was local.

A perpetrator was even identified in Sudbury, Maki said, so police wanted to be proactive and let the public know there is no local connection.

“I understand how people feel about their pets,” he said. “I'm a dog owner, too.”

Sudbury's Cyber Crime Unit was able to determine the story originated with a dog named Duke who was rescued by the Animal Alliance of New Jersey.

“The Greater Sudbury Police Service would like advise our social media followers that the individual from Sudbury has no link to this dog, and is in no way responsible for the emaciated condition that the dog from New Jersey was found in,” a release said.

“The dog, when found, was emaciated and weighed only 23 pounds. This dog has been adopted and is recovering in his forever home and now weighs 40 pounds.”

Dealing with social media cases such as this is a new aspect of policing, Maki said. Police have a significant presence on social media and it can be a useful way to gather information on cases.

But it also has the potential to spread false rumours and convict someone without any basis in fact.

“In my 30 years of policing, this is the first time I've dealt with something like this,” Maki said. “But it's part of life now with the Internet. There's good and there's bad.”