Starved and flea-covered German shepherd is rescued after being chained to a tree for FOUR YEARS... as heartless owner gets just a $25 fine

An Ohio pet owner has been arrested and slapped with a $25 fine after police rescued a starving, flea-invested and abused German shepherd that had been chained to a tree for four years.

Jeremy Shane Temple was taken into custody last Friday from his Middletown home after officers and Butler County Dog Wardens responded to a report that pets were being mistreated at the residence.

Officials discovered a mangy-looking and severely emaciated German shepherd dubbed by his owner Toby tethered to a tree in the backyard with only little food and water.



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Heart-rending sight: Toby the German shepherd, later renamed Joseph, was found chained to a tree in his owner's backyard without food or water

'Callous': When asked by police about his pet's condition, Jeremy Temple dismissively said that the 'dog is not a human'

When confronted by police about the pet's horrific living conditions, Mr Temple allegedly responded, 'the dog is not a human.'

The suspect told investigators that he had the German shepherd for four years and usually kept him outdoors.

Temple attempted to explain away Toby's skeletal appearance by saying that during the summer months, the pooch normally shed a lot of weight.

The malnourished pup covered in sores and tick bites was released into the care of the non-profit PAWS Adoption Center, where staffers renamed him Joseph in honor of the biblical character who was left for dead by his brothers, only to became a leader.



Skin and bones: When Joseph was rescued by police, he weighed only 60lbs, was covered in tick bites and had some of his teeth knocked out

Intolerable cruelty: When an animal rescue volunteer gave Joey a bath, she recalled blood flowing from flea-ravaged skin





Meg Melampy, a PAWS volunteer, recalled to the local station WCPO that when she gave the pooch a bath, blood from incalculable flea bites freely ran off his body.



Clinic manager Mike Gigis described it as the worst case of animal abuse he has ever seen.

According to Gigis, Joseph came in weighing only about 60lbs, with his fur falling out from malnourishment and most of his teeth knocked out, the station WKRC reported.



So far, the animal rescue center has spent $1,200 covering the pup's medical costs, which are expected to surpass $2,500.



Temple's neighbors in Middletown said that the pet owner had denied abusing the dog, claiming that Toby-Joseph was suffering from a disease that left him emaciated and infected.



Legal woes: Temple is facing animal cruelty charges for keeping his pet chained to this tree for four years

Following Temple's arrest, a member of his family even got one of the local residents to write a letter confirming that he had never seen the animal suffering abuse.

Beside the $25 fine, Hamilton Journal News reported that Temple also faces charges of cruelty to companion animal, unlicensed dog and improper chaining or tethering. He is due back in court October 14.