TEXARKANA -- A story of alleged animal cruelty has ended with tears of joy and a happily wagging tail.
One of the dogs rescued recently by Texarkana Animal Services as part of a felony animal-cruelty case has been reunited with its original owner.
Lyla Ketcher began to cry when a volunteer led her dog Boomer -- which is short for Boomer Sooner -- into the lobby of the Texarkana Animal Care and Adoption Center, where Ketcher was waiting to reclaim her pet after months of separation.
Boomer eagerly went to Ketcher.
"I feel like it's an inadequate word to say 'thank you,'" Ketcher told Animal Services Director Charles Lokey earlier this month.
Boomer was one of three dogs and a goat seized by Animal Services in September from a Laurel Street home that Lokey called "a little house of hell." One of two dogs locked in a bedroom, Boomer had a severe leg wound that was infected. Like the other animals, he was reportedly starving, dehydrated and infested with parasites.
The goat did not survive, but the dogs have responded well to veterinary care. Only a scar remained of Boomer's wound earlier this month, and though the dog slightly favored that leg, it was fully mobile. Boomer no longer requires medication but may need pain relief in the future, Lokey said.
About three months ago, Ketcher left Boomer restrained in her yard as she picked up her children from school. When they returned, Boomer was gone. Ketcher assumed the dog had been stolen and thought she probably would never see it again.
"Most of the time, people take your dog and they're gone," she said.
But Ketcher found new hope when a friend showed her a photo the animal shelter had posted on Facebook. The dog on the screen looked a lot like Boomer.
Ketcher went to the shelter to investigate and began calling Boomer's name as she walked through the kennel. Boomer managed to open the door of his enclosure and ran to Ketcher, his caregiver since he was a puppy.
"It was obvious they belonged to each other," Lokey said.
Photos and veterinary records Ketcher had brought further proved that Boomer was hers.
Lokey asked the prosecutor in the animal-cruelty case whether he could release Boomer and was told that he could, provided that Ketcher would bring the dog back if it was necessary in the case.
One of the residents of the Laurel Street house, William Lake Evans, had relinquished possession of the dogs during a parole hearing earlier, Lokey said.
Evans and two other residents of the house, Victoria Anderson and Tyler Blaine Green, were arrested in the case. Evans remains in custody pending resolution of parole violation charges. Anderson and Green were released on $15,000 bonds.
The three have been formally charged.
Information for this article was contributed by Lynn LaRowe of the Texarkana Gazette.
State Desk on 11/11/2017