Bangor resident accused of cruelty toward his dog

A Bangor man was summoned for animal cruelty after his dog was found entangled in its chain early Thursday morning.

Officer Mike Jewett reported that at about 1 a.m., he and Sgt. Ed Potter went to a Third Street address for an animal noise complaint. The officers heard a low moaning sound coming from a wooded area, and when Jewett shone his flashlight into the bushes, he found a small dog next to a tree.

Jewett said the dog was tangled up in its chain lead and almost totally unable to move. The dog was so tangled up, Jewett said, that when it tried to move its rear leg, its head would be pulled toward the ground.

It took about 20 minutes to remove the chain, Jewett said, and the dog limped once freed. A neighbor told Jewett that it wasn’t the first time the dog was left out unattended.

Jewett said he spoke with the landlord, James Shea, 58, of Bangor, who told him the dog was his. Shea told Jewett he had checked the dog at 8 p.m. and it appeared all right, having both water and food.

Jewett said there were two dirty bowls near the tree, with slugs crawling in them. When Jewett observed that the dog looked like it hadn’t had a bath in quite a while, Shea told him he bathed it quite often.

The dog, which Shea said was 18 years old, was taken to the Bangor Humane Society. Shea was charged with animal cruelty. Jewett said he believed that if the dog had been left there, its chances of survival would not have been good.

A Bangor woman was charged with domestic assault Wednesday night after she allegedly swung a phone at her boyfriend’s head.

Officer Doug Moore reported that at about 10:30 p.m. he and Rob Hutchings went to a First Street apartment for a domestic assault complaint. They met a man outside the building, who said he and his girlfriend, Sandra Townsend, 29, of Bangor, had an argument over a previous relationship. Townsend was on the phone, the man said, and he took the phone from her.

The man said he used a racial slur, at which point Townsend began attacking him. She put him in a head lock, the man told Moore, and took the phone back. She then swung it by its cord, the man said, and hit him in the neck. The man had a red mark on his neck and on his head.

The door to the apartment was locked, Moore said, so he and Hutchings entered by a window. They found Townsend lying on the couch. She said her boyfriend had been drinking, and she asked him to leave.

Moore said he saw a phone cord on the floor, and Townsend explained that she had ripped the phone out of the wall and that the phone was in the garbage.

Moore arrested Townsend for domestic assault. Townsend’s boyfriend told Townsend that he felt guilty for calling the police, but that this was not the first time Townsend assaulted him.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Isaac Kimball