Cruelty Charge Expected Against Former Gwinnett Animal Control Officer: Reports

A former Gwinnett County Animal Control officer will likely be charged with animal cruelty for a incident last year in which he allegedly beat a dog while on duty.

Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution misdemeanor charges are expected against Austin Fetner stemming from the Aug. 30, 2014 incident near Lilburn.

Fetner was an animal control officer at the time. He has since resigned.

According to reports, Fetner answered a call about a stray rottweiler at a residence in Lilburn. As he was trying to catch the dog inside the fenced-in yard, Fetner said he feared for his life and hit the dog once with his catch pole. However, witnesses said he struck the dog numerous times.

• Read more of the AJC story

The Gwinnett Daily Post, which documented the case in a Sunday article, reported Fetner wrote in the incident report that “If I did not keep my distance from him with my pole I believed I would have been seriously injured or killed.”

• Read more of the Post’s story

But the homeowner, who said she saw the dog wandering and put him in her backyard, told the Post after Fetner arrived and couldn’t catch the dog, he “took a baseball swing” and hit the dog on the head. The homeowner said he hit the dog five more times.

The dog, named Shane, has since recovered, but has scar tissue inside an eye and reportedly suffered emotional trauma.

Porter told the AJC Fetner will be charged later this month.