HOUSTON (FOX 26) -
Amanda Harding couldn't believe what she was seeing in front of her Galveston house on South Street Wednesday afternoon.
Harding says an obviously intoxicated man pulled up in front of her house with a dead pitbull inside.
"He just parked his car and left it there and was coming to party and have fun again," she says. "That's the reason I called 911. He was just going to leave it in the car."
Harding owns two pits herself.
When Galveston Police arrived, they say 23-year-old Bill Cody Omer was cradling the dog and crying. Police say the Houston native left the dog in 90-degree heat for over an hour.
While Omer was remorseful when police arrived, he's shirtless, grinning and giving the thumbs-up sign in his mug shot. Police believe he'd been drinking.
He's charged with a felony. Leaving a dog alone in a car for any period of time is illegal in Galveston.
"If the dog hadn't suffered death, it would've been a misdemeanor. For any kind of recklessness like this deserves a higher charge," says Lt. William Gray with the Galveston Police.
Gray says they are allowed to break into cars to remove pets if they appear to be in distress.
Dr. Timothy Harkness, with the Houston Humane Society, has been tapped to perform the necropsy on the dog. Harkness says this dog was doomed early on.
"He never had a chance. About 20 minutes is the max the dog could've made it."
Omer's Facebook friends have been posting scathing and often profane comments. One claims the dog was his, not Omer's. Another posted a picture of the dog she claims he "murdered."
Our attempts to get a comment from Omer were unsuccessful.
