Authorities looking for "coward" who fatally shot animal control officer in back

[pawprints]

Tuesday, June 19, 2007
By Erin Quinn and Kathleen Thurber
Tribune-Herald staff writers
Bobby Dean Evans was remembered Monday as a hero to Bellmead’s defenseless.
Officials investigate the monday morning death of animal control officer Bobby Dean Evans. Authorities say he was shot numerous times in the back, and his body was found in the doorway of the city's animal shelter. (Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune-Herald)


As the city’s animal control officer, he was known to search tirelessly for missing dogs and cats.

He’d work after-hours and weekends trying to find safe homes for abandoned animals, those who knew him say.

And if he couldn’t — there was always room for one more at his own Chalk Bluff home.

Caring was just part of his job. And, on all accounts Monday, it was what he did best.
But while he was making his morning rounds at the city’s animal control shelter Monday morning, the husband, father and grandfather was fatally shot numerous times in the back, Bellmead authorities say.

He was 47.

The city’s shelter lies in the middle of a long-abandoned softball complex off Dugger Drive. Except for the two dogs being held at the animal shelter and a Great Pyrenees he had just rescued in the back of his pickup, there were no witnesses, said tearful Bellmead City Manager Scooter Radcliffe. Police said they had no suspects Monday.
“We want to catch this inhuman person — this coward,” Radcliffe said. “We want this person found.”

Authorities declined to speculate on the circumstances surrounding the death of Evans, a seven-year city employee. The Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety crime labs in Waco and Austin are assisting Bellmead police in the investigation.

Details Monday were sketchy. At 8:30 a.m., Evans left the Bellmead Fire Department, which oversees animal control, for his regular rounds, officials said.

He apparently picked up the Great Pyrenees somewhere along the way and went to drop it off at the animal shelter and feed the other two locked-up dogs, authorities said.

At 9:30 a.m., dispatchers realized they hadn’t heard from Evans, who carries a radio and cell phone. At 9:48 a.m., Bellmead Fire Chief James Karl went to the shelter and found Evans lying in the doorway. An autopsy has been ordered.

The complex is kept locked to the public. There were no signs of a struggle and the city was not aware of any threats made against Evans, Radcliffe said.

Tamra Walthall, owner of La Vega Veterinary Clinic, said Evans’ dedication was not always appreciated.

“Ever since he’s been an animal control officer, it’s not just a job to him, it’s something he cared about,” Walthall said. “He would go the extra nine yards for (animals) and some people didn’t like it.”
Of course, not taking care of an animal was a serious offense to Evans. And Walthall said he’d often confiscate pets being abused by their owners or ticket those who abandoned animals.

“That takes guts,” Walthall said.

Carrie Kuehl, director of the Animal Birth Control Clinic in Waco, agreed. The job can be a dangerous one, she said.

“Any time you’re dealing with pets and animals, there are strong emotions involved, and unfortunately (animal control officers) are the ones that have to go out and deal with the difficult issues,” Kuehl said.

But to Evans, it was worth it.

He volunteered at Fuzzy Friends Animal Rescue in Waco on the weekends. And he would stop by the La Vega Veterinary Clinic during his lunch breaks — just in case they needed an extra hand. He’d speak to the public about the importance of adopting animals.

“He had a heart of gold toward the animals,” said Leanne Fuller, director of Fuzzy Friends Animal Rescue.

It was only when he’d exhausted every alternative, Kuehl said, that he’d euthanize a pet.

“It tore him up,” Kuehl said. “That was a big part of his job and I think it frustrated him that there were so many irresponsible pet owners.”
At home, he was often seen working in the garden with his wife. When Hurricane Katrina hit, neighbors said he and his wife took supplies to the storm’s victims.

“They were inseparable,” said Delaine Wolf, 44, the Evans’ next-door neighbor. “They did everything together.”

Just down the street, 32-year-old Amy Helona said she saw Evans just yesterday.

He brought over half a carrot cake — leftovers from his family’s Father’s Day party.

“It’s just a big shock — when you talk to someone one day and the next day they’re gone,” she said.

equinn@wacotrib.com
757-5748

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content...dhomicide.html

[MzzLyn]

That is so sad. The world should mourn to lose a person like that. So many could learn a lesson from this man, and I hope his death was not in vain.

[Angeleyes]

How horrible. I hope they catch the person who did this to him.

[pawprints]

And sadly, because he's not Law enforcement, or a fireman, or any other state Official, no one would think of flying the flag at half mast....after all, he may serve the community, but he's just an Animal Control Officer!

That's the mentality!!

[trippincherri]

Another one of the good guys gone. That is so heart breaking....I hate the way this world spins.

[Melinda]

my thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, I hope God puts him in charge at the rainbow bridge, he's someone I want watching over Daisy till I get there.

[Jagsdad]

That's sad.and i hope they catch the coward(s) that did this.he sounds like he was a good man.

[zack991]

I just cant think where peoples heads are at,i hope the man who did this get the same fait or worse.Its just not right.