A CONVICTED felon was arrested on suspicion of binding a dog's mouth and legs with electrical tape and leaving it in a ditch in freezing temperatures.
Paul Garvia, 39, faces charges of animal cruelty after allegedly abducting the dog before dumping it by the side of a road in the town of Imperial, Missouri.
The dog was found by a deputy sheriff after an estimated 12 hours in temperatures that fell as low as -7C.
He was rushed to a vets, where he was diagnosed with a suspected concussion and found to have a body temperature 3C lower than normal.
Detectives later matched a fingerprint found on the tape to Garcia.
Garcia was arrested in February on a felony charge of animal cruelty.
He was also later indicted on a charge of armed criminal action having been found in possession of a firearm in September 2018.
Garcia was not legally allowed to be carrying the firearm because of previous felony convictions that included domestic abuse of at least three women and trespassing, the Riverfront Times reported.
He was also previously convicted for possessing a chemical with intent to create a controlled substance after being found with material typically used to make methamphetamine.
He told police he had abducted the dog believing that authorities had fitted it with a camera to monitor his movements.
He said he had panicked when the dog wandered up to his truck as he was installing a set of speakers.
A picture of the dog was posted on social media along with an appeal for anyone who recognised him to come forward with information.
One woman named Katie Kofron later got in touch saying the dog was hers.
She said her 13-year-old old dachshund, named Flick, had recently gone missing from her backyard.
She was later able to provide medical records matching the dog that had been found.
Kofron told police she had thought Flick must have been abducted because he never left her yard on his own.
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