Pit Bulls Starved To Death, Dumped In Ravine, Owner Arrested For Cruelty

A Nebraska man was accused of starving two pit bull dogs to death and dumping their bodies in an embankment in January.

Shane T. Palmer, 43, was served with a felony arrest warrant Tuesday, obtained by investigators with the Nebraska Humane Society (NHS), for animal neglect and cruelty.

"The investigation shows that the two pit bulls owned by this suspect were starved to death, and then discarded like trash. It's absolutely uncalled for," Mark Langan, vice president of field operations for NHS, said, local newspaper, Omaha World Herald reported.

The carcasses of two male dogs – named Pokie and Boss – were found by investigators on Jan. 9, in a ravine, east of Palmer's house near 14th and Evans streets, in northeast Omaha, Nebraska. Although neither of the canines had any tags on their bodies, one of them was fitted with a microchip, which led authorities to the bodies.

After an NHS veterinarian carried out necropsy of the corpses, it was found that the primary cause of death was starvation and the secondary cause was hypothermia.

Pokie and Boss were missing for weeks prior to their bodies being discovered. According to NHS, Palmer had confirmed that one of his pet dogs had died in a social media post, which was deleted later.

"Social media's been the downfall of many a criminal in the Omaha area, [and] also ones charged with animal cruelty," Langan said, adding, “We see things like this way too often. Stories like this evoke a lot of emotion in the community, and I think people are getting tired of people starving their dogs to death.”

Langan reminded people that anyone who was struggling to feed their pet could choose to hand them over to the organization instead of hurting them. "We accept any pet for any reason," he said. "I'm getting frustrated doing these cases, and the public is getting frustrated hearing about them, because there's no reason in the world to starve your dog to death.”

He also thanked the organization’s partners in the local law agencies for the latest arrest. "We work great with the Omaha Police, hand in hand, and then getting the felony warrant served, and getting this guy put in jail," he said, ABC-affiliated KETV reported.

Palmer, who was also a registered sex offender in Texas under the name "Shane Harris”, is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

This was the second person getting arrested for animal cruelty in Nebraska in the past two weeks. Ayeshea Colbenson, 25, was charged with one felony count of animal neglect or abandonment resulting in death for allegedly starving her pit bull. Necropsy report revealed that the canine was emaciated and had the ribs, hip bones and vertebrae prominent under its skin.