Puppy recovering after found hanging from tree in Alabama; Indiana man arrested

JACKSON COUNTY, Ala. — A 42-year-old Indiana man is accused of hanging a puppy from a tree in the woods of northeastern Alabama, authorities said.

Jasen Charles Howard, 42, of Wheatfield, was booked into the Jackson County Jail on Thursday on charges of animal cruelty and drug paraphernalia possession, WHNT reported.

The dog, meanwhile -- a 5-month-old female bulldog mix -- was recovering at an animal shelter in Scottsboro, AL.com reported.

The puppy, nicknamed Valentine, was rescued Thursday morning in the woods near the town of Section in Jackson County, the website reported.

According to Jackson County Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen, a witness saw Howard take the puppy into the woods. When the witness entered the woods to check on the dog, it was found hanging from a tree WHNT reported. The witness cut the dog down from the tree and called the Sheriff’s Office, the television station reported.

“She’s doing OK,” Anthony Wilbanks, an animal control deputy for the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, told AL.com.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, Howard admitted to hanging the puppy, WAAY reported. According to deputies, Jackson said the dog had parvo -- a contagious virus -- and did not have a gun to put it out of its misery, WHNT reported. A test for the virus came back negative, the television station reported.

Harnen said authorities found a second dog and a suspected meth pipe in Howard’s vehicle, AL.com reported.

Howard remained in jail in lieu of $5,300 bail, according to arrest records.

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