Summerton man arrested for allegedly shooting dog, disposing of animal's body

SUMMERTON — A Summerton man was arrested early on Aug. 30 and charged with animal cruelty for allegedly shooting a dog and then disposing of the animal’s body.
The Summerton man was released from the Clarendon County Detention Center on Aug. 30 on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
According to Clarendon County Sheriff Tim Baxley, his office received a complaint on Aug. 28 about a domesticated dog that was shot on Aug. 27 outside Red’s Bar and Grill on M.W. Rickenbaker Road. Baxley said an investigator was immediately assigned to the complaint.
According to the sheriff, his office received a call from the animal’s owner, who said that he had been at the restaurant and had left his dog inside his vehicle with the motor running. The animal’s owner told the sheriff’s office that when he went to leave the restaurant, he noticed the animal was not in his vehicle and must have gotten out of the vehicle through its back sliding window. The owner said that he looked for the dog unsuccessfully until about 1:30 a.m. The pet owner also told authorities that he had received phone calls about a dog being shot in the restaurant’s parking lot.
Through witnesses, CCSO investigators were able to determine that the Summerton man shot the dog in the restaurant’s parking lot and then disposed of the dog’s body.
According to Baxley, the dog’s body was recovered, and the Summerton man was arrested and charged with one count of animal cruelty.