Doug Giddings, the Idaho County Sheriff protected the cat shooter, Jesse Winterringer, who likes to shoot cats, any cats, feral or domestic. He does not mind. Sheriff Giddings shows no interest in investigating Jesse Winterringer’s perverted taste in entertainment in shooting cats he describes as “Ferrell” despite the fact that some of these cats are probably domesticated and pets.
This should not surprise people because Sheriff Giddings shows a disdain for the animal welfare laws of the county, state and nation. Perhaps it is pure ignorance of the laws or contempt for them. It looks like it. He is one of those law enforcement officers: biased and unbalanced.
In a well publicized story about a dog, Tharros, the sheriff sided with Jesse Winterringer in claiming the dog had been attacked by a guard dog when in fact the dog had been shot by his owner, Winterringer. Winterringer claimed he decided to euthanize his dog with a bullet because he was wounded. A passerby saw him struggle to hold the dog while trying to shoot him. It seems he shot inaccurately and severely injured the dog who was rescued and is now re-homed. As I understand it Winterringer simply want to ‘euthanize’ (aka kill) his dog. There was no injury.
Sherrif Giddings changed his tune when confronted with overwhelming veterinary evidence that the dog had been shot (bullet fragments in the jaw). Giddings then proclaimed that:
“If you injure a dog, or you want to shoot your dog here, you shoot it..In the city you take it to the pound, they euthanize it. What’s the difference?”
And:
“There was nothing done that we can tell that was illegal, dishonest, immoral or unethical and it definitely was nothing criminal,” Giddings said.
Well Mr Giddings the difference is that euthanasia is legal and humane when done by a qualified person for legitimate reasons while shooting and injuring your dog in an attempt to euthanize him/her is probably and should be a crime under Idaho code title 25. It would be a misdemeanor.
Idaho Animal Welfare Law
I want to briefly point out the law in Idaho on animal cruelty:
‘Cruel’ means to subject an animal to needless suffering or to intentionally inflict pain and physical suffering injury of death upon an animal. Surely Winterringer is guilty under this definition in shooting his dog and the cats.
Committing cruelty to animals as an owner is punishable under Idaho Code 25-3504 (2016).
Sheriff Is An Apologist For Animal Abusers
The point I want to make is that the county Sheriff protected the cat shooter, Winterringer in what must be a crime in shooting his dog and he ignores the ongoing crimes perpetrated by Winterringer in shooting cats wherever he finds them notwithstanding that they might be someone’s pet. Indeed in one self-published photo of him holding up two dead cats you can see a collar around the one in his left hand.
Giddings continues to defend his perverse attitude to animal welfare. He said:
“I can guarantee you that person believes in abortion, but they care more about dogs than they do babies…”
He’s trying to defend his attitude with a poor argument. The truth is that the County Sheriff protected the cat shooter Winterringer. He is therefore unsuited to the role as he disdainfully ignores animal welfare laws and protects an alleged criminal. He has possibly committed a crime himself: misconduct in public office.
As so eloquently put by Jenna Lynn in her review of the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office on Facebook, Giddings has failed the community. He has lost the trust of the community. Most people are sensitive to animal welfare. They want to see animals protected and perpetrators of animal abuse brought to justice. If the person charged with that task wantonly fails he loses the trust of the community and he should resign.
Note: Jenna Lynn’s review is my source for the dog story.
Giddings needs to lose his job. I’m sure that county has a FB page they all do.
For me he is unsuited to the job but I am sure that if I lived in that county I’d be in a minority.
I disagree. The vocal minority often outweighs the silent majority. It’s getting people to get off their dead butts and do something. I have their FB page bookmarked. I mean the guy wears a badge so I’m sure many are unsure of their own safety if they speak up publicly much like I’m sure the cat killers neighbors try not to get on his radar. They are a couple of shit-stains that need to be wiped out of public view.
This worries me: that ordinary cat owners keep quiet out of fear. It might be that.
” I mean the guy wears a badge so I’m sure many are unsure of their own safety…”
The cat owners are unprotected.
I hate to say this, but “Sheriff” Giddings reminds me of Walter Palmer, the American dentist that killed Cecil the Lion. He has the same bloodthirsty look in his eyes. I wonder what he does in his spare time? 😱😠
Yes, it’s a attitude problem. He’ll never change. Arrogance and ignorance combined. Spare time? He’ll be shooting and killing something, anything as long as it is an animal.