In early October, a woman who helps manage a colony of stray cats in South Carolina’s Lowcountry stopped by to feed them and was distraught by what she saw.
Six cats lay dead not far from several open tins of tuna. After the woman called for help and a larger group searched the area, they found the bodies of seven more cats and three opossums, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office said.
The cats were spayed/neutered and managed by volunteers from Lowcountry Trap, Neuter and Release Network, meaning their population was controlled and they were routinely monitored and given veterinary care.
Tests showed the cats were poisoned, according to the Professional Veterinary Pathology Services in Columbia and the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
While police were looking into the poisoning, they got a tip that a local man had been complaining about the cats and claiming they were a nuisance.
On Thursday, police charged 28-year-old Andrew Dock and 45-year-old Charles Waylon Ulmer with 13 counts of felony ill-treatment to animals with torture and one count of conspiracy. Dock’s wife, Sara Rose Dock, 23, and his mother, Laura Mary Dock, 61, were charged with conspiracy along with Michael Jeffrey Kemmerlin, 30. All five suspects live in or near Summerville, a town about 25 miles northwest of Charleston.
Each felony count is punishable by as many as five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, per South Carolina penal code.
Dock was the ringleader of the group, according to police, and enlisted the others to help him poison the cats.
“Anyone that is capable of putting out poison and creating that level of pain and suffering is a concern to me as a human in our community,” Carol Linville, founder of a local nonprofit called Pet Helpers, told Lowcountry news station WCSC. ”That is a dangerous person. If they can do it to a cat, they can do it to a dog or do anything else that they deem they don’t want around.”
Locals involved with colony management and animal rescue praised the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office for seeing the investigation through and arresting the suspects.
“The fact that the law enforcement took this seriously and really wanted to see justice and really do their due diligence to make sure that justice is really coming for these cats. I am, I’m very grateful,” said Kayte Williams, one of the women who cared for the colony. “Hopefully nothing like this happens again because the public will know if this happens, you will be prosecuted, you will be charged and you are not going to get away with it.”
On his social media accounts, Dock describes himself as a former welding instructor at Horry-Georgetown Technical College originally from Newark, New Jersey.
All five suspects were released after posting bond, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office. It wasn’t immediately clear if they had retained lawyers, or if they were given return dates for preliminary hearings.
Pain In The Bud 
It’s okay to express anger, but please do me a favor and avoid comments wishing harm on anyone. I know this sort of thing is extremely upsetting, and in this case the colony managers were doing everything right, but I think the more important discussion is how this sort of thing can be prevented. Laws that carry prohibitive sentences and police who take animal welfare seriously are a good start.
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It’s great that the police took this seriously and I applaud them for this. Maybe they’re cat owners or just plain animal lovers and are sick and tired of seeing this kind of thing happening. But, the courts don’t seem to think it’s that “big of a deal”.. We both know these people won’t see any jail time and will get a puny fine. A big slap on the wrist. THAT’S what pisses me off.
You want to prevent more of this, then people like POS’s like these need to be JAILED. And I’m not talking a day or 2. They need to see some serious time. They need to be hit with bigger fines too. As long as they know they can get away with it, vermin like this pack of crap will continue to do this kind of shit.
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It really depends on the state. The main charges here come with a minimum sentence on conviction and there are 13 counts, so the time could be significant. And of course they’ll all have their day in court.
I linked to the South Carolina penal code in the story. It’s significantly better than what we have here in NY, where the offenses still fall under agriculture and markets law.
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What did i say few days ago about poisoning cats?
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