ABILENE, TX – Abilene Police Detectives with the Major Investigations Property Crimes Unit arrested a 38-year-old man for breaking into the Abilene/Taylor County Animal Services in the early hours of Friday, August 26, 2022.
Police were called out just before 7 a.m. to the Animal Services building located at 925 S. 25th street for the report of a break-in. Officers arrived to find that someone had climbed the fence that surrounds the building, entered into the building through the roof, and opened many cages to the canine side of the building, freeing many of the over 150 canines in the shelter.
Officers found one of the canines deceased and several other canines injured due to what is believed to be fighting amongst the animals. Several other canines escaped the property through an outside gate, requiring Animal Shelter crews to attempt to locate them outside of the property grounds.
There was damage to the inside of the building’s office area and other parts of the building, including the roof where the perpetrator entered the building.
A van owned by the shelter was also stolen from the property and later recovered in north Abilene.
Detectives picked up a male matching the description of a possible suspect and brought him into the station for questioning hours after the break-in. 38-year-old George Paul Jones was officially arrested and charged with the break-in, animal cruelty, and theft of a motor vehicle. He is being held at the Taylor County Jail.
Respectfully,
Rick Tomlin
Public Information Coordinator