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Reported dog branding raises legal questions

A hot iron, a permanent mark on a dog and now people are asking what is the difference between animal abuse and animal branding?  The talk is centered on an incident reported to have happened to a dog in Beggs, south of Tulsa, in Okmulgee County.

A woman walking by a yard last week says she saw a man reportedly branding an animal.  "It happened, I am investigating whether or not what happened-- did what happen constitute a law violation or not,” says Beggs Police Chief Wes Fish.

He says the witness has not filed a police complaint or witness statement and he is trying to gather that information.  "The problem with law enforcement and citizens that get overzealous, they can get on Facebook and type all of these crazy things that I get phone calls, left and right, from people telling me about how they are talking about lynching this guy and things like this but, yet, a determination hasn't been made whether he violated a state law yet,” says Fish.

He says the animal cruelty law does not spell out what IS and what IS NOT animal abuse.  Fish says it is not like a DUI arrest, "At this point I can't submit a probably cause finding to go and arrest this guy because it is not a clear cut violation of the law.”

Fish says the dog has a permanent mark but no one has been arrested.  He says he isn't the one to decide if the branding measures up to animal cruelty.  "That is up to the District Attorney to decide- that is not up to me.  The law specifically does not tell you- you can't do this and this and this to a dog,” says Fish.  He says the dog owner has branded other animals in the past.

But, clearly the woman who saw the branding, as she was walking, is upset after contacting Tulsa media and now animal lovers are posting comments on various social media sites about the incident.

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