Tim Conatser of Royse City, Texas, has been removed from his position as a volunteer firefighter and could face criminal charges after his post went viral.
A volunteer firefighter sparked an online firestorm after he allegedly posted a picture on Facebook bragging about killing two dogs.
The original, unedited image:
Tim Conatser of Royse City, Texas, has been removed from his position as a volunteer firefighter and could face criminal charges after his Tuesday post went viral, the Dallas Morning News reported.
His post has since been taken down, but was saved by social media users. In it, he implies that he killed two dogs because they kept wandering off their own property.
The post immediately drew outrage online, with local residents complaining to the Royse City Fire Department because Conatser identified himself as a firefighter on his page.
The department said on its Facebook page that Conatser was actually a volunteer for another local fire department, but has been “terminated.”
Conatser did not live in the home where the dogs were shot, but was acquainted with the inhabitants, Fox 4 reported.
The owners of the dogs, Pulido Rodrigo and Dulce Medrano, said the black lab was named Gordo and the yellow lab was named Spike, according to Fox 4.
They said they did not know what had happened to their dogs until they read about it on social media.
They told the television station they just wanted to know why their dogs were killed and they never got any warning about their pets.
“What can I say, my heart’s broken,” Medrano said. “But…I don’t know why.”
The Union Valley Fire Department told Fox 4 it asked Conatser to resign because it began to receive negative messages and death threats.
“He has no background, no negative background,” fire chief Edward Ragsdale told Fox 4. “He’s from around the community. From what I understand, from what I know, he’s a good person he’s from a good family.”
Texas firefighter kills dogs, posts pictures on Facebook – http://t.co/8ZSHJcitrn http://t.co/sD3ZD84SsT
— greensboro_nc (@#SocialMedia NC)
The Hunt County constable is investigating the incident to see if criminal charges should be filed, the Dallas Morning News reported.
The Texas chapter of the SPCA is also investigating, Fox 4 reported.
Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemcneal/volunteer-firefighter-allegedly-shoots-dogs-brags-about-it-i