A Spartanburg County woman told animal control officers God advised her to hang and then burn her nephew's pit bull because it was "a devil dog" and because it had chewed her bible.
Spartanburg County animal control officers said Miriam Fowler Smith, 65, of Pacolet Mills, confessed to wrapping an extension cord around the dog's neck, hanging it from a tree, and then setting it on fire.
Smith faces one felony count of ill treatment of animals in general, and she remains in the Spartanburg County Detention Center as of this posting.
The dog, named Diamond, belonged to Smith's nephew, Andy Fowler, who left the home on Jan. 9. When he returned Jan. 15, Fowler noticed the dog wasn't there.
He told officers he assumed the dog had gotten loose and was running free, but when he pressed his aunt, she confessed to killing it, according to animal control officers.
Officers found the body of the animal under a mound of dried grass on the property at 410 John Worthy Road in Pacolet Mills.
Officers state they spoke with Smith while they were there January 16 when she came out of the home to walk to church.
The report states she told officers she killed the dog after it chewed on her bible and that she was afraid children in the neighborhood could be bitten by the animal.
Animal Control Director James Nelson says this case is the first time in his career that anyone’s ever been charged under the felony statute against cruelty to animals.
Officers arrested Smith Sunday, January 23, and as of Monday at 11:21 a.m. she was still being held in the Spartanburg County Detention Center.
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