A City of Detroit Animal Control supervisor who was fired for feeding live puppies to a python will not face criminal charges, the Wayne County prosecutor’s office has decided.
Letters and phone calls asking for someone to avenge the pups with legal action have poured into the Detroit Police Department and the prosecutor’s office in recent weeks.
But only evidence could be factored into the decision, said Rebecca Tenorio, spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office.
And because the only incriminating information against Tara McClanahan, 38, was her word that she made food of the homeless animals, charges could not be filed, Tenorio said.
“Workers saw a puppy walking around in the cage with the snake and asked the woman why it was in there, and she said she was feeding the snake,” Tenorio said.
But since they did not see the feedings, that knowledge was not enough to levy animal cruelty charges, she said.
McClanahan was fired in September after the late August incident. She is a 15-year employee with no previous disciplinary action and is awaiting a hearing to overturn the firing, her attorney said Sunday.
