(FreedomBeacon.com)- A North Carolina assistant district attorney who had suggested a dog’s vocal cords be surgically removed in exchange for dropping the case against its owner is no longer employed at the Graham County District Attorney’s Office.
In a statement last week, Graham County District Attorney Ashley Welch said the DA’s office does not condone or support the prosecutor’s suggestion.
The surprising suggestion, which made local news in early June, involved a series of noise complaints against the owner of a 7-year-old Great Pyrenees named Leo whose excessive barking had violated a county noise ordinance on multiple occasions. The assistant district attorney assigned to the case had offered to dismiss the charges against Leo’s owner, Michael Eddings if he agreed to have Leo’s vocal cords surgically removed.
After Eddings made hay over the ADA’s suggestion, the local news media picked up the story. At the time, District Attorney Welch called the suggestion inappropriate whether it was offered seriously or in jest.
Eddings told reporters that he was stunned when the unnamed assistant DA suggested surgical removal of Leo’s vocal cords in exchange for dropping the charges against Eddings, saying it was “crazy” and “inhumane.”
So far, Eddings has racked up over $750 in noise citations and attorney’s fees over Leo’s booming bark.
And while the ADA who made the suggestion is out of a job, Eddings isn’t off the hook for Leo violating the county’s noise ordinance.
Eddings is expected back in court in October. He told reporters that he is willing to negotiate with the prosecution, saying he would put up a fence. However, he refuses to fit Leo with a barking collar and he certainly won’t have his vocal cords removed.
