By Greg Grisolano
ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com
McCUNE, Kan. — McCune Mayor Donald “Don” Call has been charged with two felony counts of animal cruelty and a misdemeanor count of criminal discharge of a weapon in connection with the fatal shootings of two dogs Sunday at a home in town.
Call turned himself in to Crawford County sheriff’s deputies Wednesday morning in Girard and was released after posting $3,000 bond.
Crawford County Attorney Michael Gayoso said his office decided to pursue felony charges against the mayor because of the nature in which the dogs were dispatched.
“We’re alleging that he did it maliciously,” Gayoso said. “That raises it to a felony. There are conflicting stories in reviewing the reports, but we felt that probable cause existed, which warranted the charges to be filed. Ultimately, it will be up to the jury to determine whether a conviction occurs.”
According to a police report and the mayor’s own account, Call drove Sunday afternoon to Duane Wahl’s house at 612 Oak St. and shot the dogs with a 9 mm rifle as they lay on the sidewalk outside the house. Call said a neighbor of Wahl’s notified him that the dogs were chasing some children playing nearby.
When reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, Call declined further comment on the incident until he can consult a lawyer.
“I’m going to talk to a lawyer before I tell you guys any more,” he said.
Call has said he pulled up in front of the house in his van and aimed his semiautomatic rifle out the window at the animals, using a nearby fence as a backstop. He said he fired “five or six” shots at both dogs, striking them in the head. He later disposed of the dogs’ bodies at property he owns.
One of the dogs was a German shepherd, and the other was a small, mixed-breed.
Call has maintained that his action was necessary because the Sheriff’s Department had not acted on previous complaints about dogs owned by Wahl running loose.
Crawford County Sheriff Sandy Horton this week said his department had received at least four complaints since July 2008 about three German shepherds owned by Wahl running loose through the streets and menacing residents by acting aggressively.
He said his deputies could not seek formal charges because no victim ever came forward in connection with any of the complaints. He said deputies had told Wahl that he would have to keep the dogs confined. Wahl, according to a department statement, told authorities on Jan. 12 that he planned to get rid of the dogs.
Authorities said in a statement this week that Wahl on Sunday said only the mixed-breed dog that was shot was his.
Unavailable
The Globe’s efforts to obtain comment from dog owner Duane Wahl on Wednesday night at his home were unsuccessful. No one answered the door at his home or at the nearby home of Tim and Sandy Gomez, the residents who Mayor Don Call said phoned him Sunday to alert him that the dogs were chasing their children.
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