Joseph Eugene Gann
Police said an Ooltewah man threw a small white dog to a pit bull, who immediately attacked and killed the dog.
Joseph Eugene Gann, 39, of 10705 Dolly Pond Road, is charged with animal cruelty. He also faces counts of DUI, unlawful removal of registration, possessing a controlled substance and unlawfully carrying a weapon.
In the incident on Sunday, a neighbor said he saw Gann "feed a small white dog to a larger pit bull."
The neighbor said he saw Gann grab the small dog, walk over to where a large brown pit bull was chained, and throw the white dog to the pit bull. He said the pit bull immediately attacked the small dog, biting it on its neck before dis-emboweling it.
An officer said he had dealt with Gann a half hour before when he was in a disorder with the man who owns the house he was renting.
He said Gann seemed impaired at the time and he told him not to drive. He said Gann had four knives on him.
The officer said Gann was not at the residence when he responded on the dog call, but he later drove by and he stopped him.
He said the tag on the vehicle was expired and belonged on a blue Honda Civic.
The officer said Gann was so impaired that he did not give him field sobriety tests for fear that he would hurt himself. He said he still had the four knives along with a canister that contained a xanax pill and some crystal meth.
Gann, who is a convicted felon and is not supposed to possess any weapons or ammunition, had shotgun shells in the glove compartment.