Matt McMichael of Eugene, Oregon, was apparently fed up with Hank, his girlfriend Sheela Deskins’ dog. McMichael, in particular, believed Hank’s barking was extreme, so he chose to take action. He believed he’d put an end to the dog’s apparently endless barking by securing the dog’s lips shut with a plastic zip tie.
McMichael saw nothing odd with his action and shared a photograph of Hank, a dachshund, with his snout zip tied shut to social media with the message, “When you’re tired of the (expletive) barking!!!” It rapidly went viral, eliciting a massive outcry from viewers who were horrified by the picture.
The photo was released on an animal rights activist group on Facebook called Exposed… along with an image of the youngster Matt McMichael who took and posted it on Snapchat. Following that, page followers went on the offensive, writing emails and dialing the 911 emergency line. The majority, if not all, of the complaints came from outside the state and from all across the country. Eugene spokesman Melinda Mclaughlin said they got just under 50 phone calls, an unwelcome interruption from the emergency calls and 83 Facebook posts.
When McMichael discovered the uproar produced by the photo of Hank’s zip tied muzzle, a Facebook user posing as him reacted with the words “laugh out loud,” saying it was a joke. The zip tie wasn’t even tight, everyone relaxed, remarked the user. When the harassment persisted, McMichael allegedly deactivated his account, but the harm had already been done.
After numerous individuals called for measures against the man and the dog’s owner for what they saw to be cruelty, a city animal welfare inspector conducted an investigation and discovered McMichael no longer resides in Eugene and relocated to the next county over in southern Oregon. Eugene then sent the matter to the Linn County Sheriff’s Department.
McMichael, on the other hand, was not charged for his acts. KATU 2 said, “Several individuals received letters to our affiliate station, KVAL News, suggesting the man who posted the photo resided in the Eugene area,” before adding, KVAL claims that Linn County Sheriff’s officers examined the issue and they say the puppy was not harmed.
According to the publication, the sheriff’s office decided that no crime had occurred. According to deputies, it was just poor judgment on the man’s behalf. The zip tie was loose fitting, and the dog had no bruises or signs to indicate it had been abused, they noted. Deputies just advised McMichael not to “share images like that” before passing the issue over to Linn County Animal Control for further investigation.
Obviously, the conclusion surprised everyone. The Facebook page Exposed, which gained a large number of followers after sharing the photographs, continues to stoke the flames, with some advocating for vigilante action. McMichael endured threats of violence and even murder as his workplace was inundated with phone calls attempting to have him fired. Individuals also urged to continue calling the sheriff’s office. Unfortunately, there were also calls to go after McMichael’s girlfriend, Hank’s owner.
A photograph is worth a thousand words, but it is also a transient snapshot in time and can be deceiving. Is it the case in this instance? One can only hope that the different authorities investigated the situation thoroughly and determined the dog’s well-being. Irrespective of your feelings about what Matt McMichael did, flooding the sheriff’s office with unneeded calls and asking for an assault on others who were not engaged, such as Hank’s owner, is not the way to effect change.
But it’s up to you. Was Matt McMichael treated fairly? Should these online activists have let it go when officials found that the dog had not been mistreated in any way? No one behind a computer screen has all of the data required to arrive at an unequivocal decision. After all, that is why we have officials that can examine, and we do not rely on a public trial to decide somebody’s guilt or innocence.
