Man Tapes Dog’s Mouth Shut; Is Charged in Death

A man who told police that a dog’s chronic barking prompted him to tape the animal’s muzzle shut was charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals Monday in connection with the golden retriever’s death last month.

Lt. Jeff Roop of the Fullerton Police Department said Robert Steven Sakall, 39, told investigators that he taped the dog’s muzzle shut after listening to it bark for long periods. Sakall said he has been largely housebound since injuring his back in a work-related accident about three years ago.

“He told us that he didn’t want to kill the dog, he just wanted to shut it up,” Roop said. “He wasn’t aware that the dog would die from taping his mouth shut.”

A dog controls its body temperature by panting to release heat through its mouth. With his muzzle taped closed, 5-year-old Dylan died June 27 when his body temperature climbed to 108 degrees, a veterinarian said.

The Orange County district attorney’s office Monday charged Sakall with one count of cruelty to animals after Fullerton police identified him after a monthlong, door-to-door investigation.

In an interview, Sakall would not discuss his innocence or guilt but suggested that the dog’s barking was a “habitual problem.”

“I’m sure everybody would agree that the dog was a habitual problem,” Sakall said. “That dog just sat at one spot and was barking at the house. They would just chain the dog and then take off for days at a time. If anyone was cruel to the dog, it would seem that the owners were.”

But Dylan’s owners, Jeff and Debbie Hutchison, who live about half a block from Sakall, said Dylan “wasn’t known as a barker.”

“(Sakall is) not owning up to the responsibility and admitting that he made a mistake,” Jeff Hutchison said. “Our dog was a family pet. It was very well taken care of.”

Hutchison suggested that Dylan may have been mistaken for a German shepherd in an adjoining house that does bark frequently.