Accused in dog-dragging case stopped by protesters outside court

STRATHMORE A woman charged after a critically injured dog was found tied to a car was confronted by animal-rights protesters when she made her first court appearance Tuesday.

Melinda Harris, 40, is accused of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

On July 2, a police officer was stopped by a driver who had seen a dog on a leash being dragged behind a black car on a highway east of Calgary.

The car, with the injured dog tied to it, was found in a field later that day. RCMP took the dog, believed to be a border collie cross, to an emergency veterinary clinic, but the animal had to be euthanized.

Heather Anderson from the Daisy Foundation, a group that fights for stiffer penalties for animal abusers, confronted a smiling Harris outside of the Strathmore courthouse, east of Calgary, during a break.

“How can you be joking? Your dog just died. I don’t find anything funny about this,” Anderson said. “I want to know why the dog didn’t end up at a vet.”

Harris replied that it wasn’t her fault and said her boyfriend had tied the dog to the hitch of her car.

“I drove away to get gas,” Harris said.

Her car ran out of gas and she left on foot to get help, she said.

“He was in pain and I knew he was dying and I ran for help,” Harris said. “Shut up. I didn’t tie my dog up and I wouldn’t never had done that to my dog ... I’m crying every day.”

Harris, who now lives in Mackenzie, B.C., has been ordered to return to court Sept. 5.

RCMP have issued an arrest warrant for True Underwood, 20, who is also charged with causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.