DECEMBER 2015 PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
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I would like, with your permission, to
try that method.’”
At that point, the Harrises had
complete faith in their vet.
“He was a smart guy,” Jamie
Harris said. “It was going to take a
little longer, but would have better
results. That turned into a threemonth thing.”
Both Marian and Jamie called the
clinic over and over again and asked
for updates.
“He [Tierce] would say, ‘Well,
it’s not coming as fast as we hoped,’”
Jamie recalled. “And then we went
and visited. ‘He’s getting better, doing
this and doing that.…’ But not until I
showed up on this surprise visit, and I
don’t know if I caught them off guard
or what, but when he came out, Sid
couldn’t walk. He was sliding on
his butt to get to me. And I was just
standing there and asking what was
going on? Why can’t he walk? And
they said he thinks it’s a combination
of medicine and his blood pressure
dropped. It wasn’t a problem. They’d
get it taken care of. Well, two to
three weeks later Marian goes in and
Tierce tells her about Sid’s spine.”
The Harrises made the decision to
have Dr. Tierce euthanize Sid, based
on the recommendation from their
trusted family vet.
Six months passed.
Then, on April 22, 2014, Marian
Harris answered the phone.
“I’ll never forget the day she
[Marian] got that call,” Jamie Harris
said. “She came into my office
crying. I thought someone had died.”
Mary Brewer, a veterinary technician who had been with the clinic,
called to tell Marian that Sid was still
alive, confined in a filthy cage almost
24 hours a day while he was being
used for blood extraction and medical experiments. Brewer also gave
exact directions to the “ward“ where
Sid was being held.
Marian and Jamie Harris went to
Camp Bowie Animal Clinic in Fort
Worth, and with the help of two of
their friends, rescued Sid.
“Our children didn’t recognize
him when they first saw him,” Marian
Harris said.
The Harrises took Sid to Aledo
96
Vet Clinic where another vet examined Sid. His findings were fascinating to the Harrises. Sid had been
“abusively kenneled,” which caused
numerous other health issues for Sid,
including stress-induced mange and
muscle atrophy. Sid also manifested
signs consistent with an animal that
had been used as a “regular blood
donor.” But the most interesting part
about the new vet’s finding was that
Sid had no congenital spine defect,
but did show signs of a spinal injury.
The Harrises also called the Fort
Worth Police Department. Jamie
Harris remembers this as an extremely frustrating conversation.
He said, “When we first called
the police, they said, ‘This is a civil
matter.’ And I called them multiple
times and multiple times they said
it was a civil matter. I finally said, ‘I
promise you when I’m done today, it
won’t be a civil matter.’ But the point
was, they just didn’t understand. I
couldn’t explain it to them in a way
that made them understand … We
were nervous. We felt that when we
went and got Sid we were signing the
death warrant for the other dogs he
was keeping like Sid. We were afraid
he’d euthanize them to get rid of the
evidence.”
It took detectives with the Fort
Worth Police Department eight days
to act on the information provided to
them by the Harrises.
Strangely enough, when police
arrived at the Camp Bowie Animal
Clinic, nothing had been changed.
The same dogs that were there,
in “the ward,” were right where they
were when Marian left with Sid.
Veterinarian Millard “Lou” Tierce
was arrested on charges of animal
cruelty and they seized four animals
including a black and white border
collie.
Dr. Tierce made the statement to
the media assembled at the jail at the
time of his release that he didn’t have
enough room in his freezer for the
dogs’ bodies.
Later, when he appeared before
the Texas State Veterinary Board of
Medical Examiners for an emergency
hearing, he seemed more contrite
when he told the board that he had
been “too busy” to euthanize and
bury Sid. He also said that was true
of other animals whose owners
thought their pets were dead.
“If I’m not M.L. Tierce, veterinarian, I am nothing,” he said. “I’m
asking for the opportunity to continue
to be a veterinarian.”
The hearing’s outcome? Tierce’s
temporary suspension remains in
effect. A full board will review
Tierce’s license sometime in the fall.
That doesn’t give Sid back his
lost time. For a large dog with a life
expectancy of 8 to 10 years, being
confined for nine months (three the
Harrises knew about and six that
were a complete surprise) is a lot of
time to have stolen from your life.
“As bad as our story is, some of
the other stories are a lot worse –
horror show like things,” Jamie Harris
said. “Stories like that one which he
claimed as a house pet. It stayed at
the clinic, and he claimed it to be
his dog. It belonged to a lady who
lived in the neighborhood and had
to move to another house, so she
gave the dog to Tierce. That was
the border collie the police seized
when they raided the clinic. It had a
portion of his foot missing, had two
dislocated shoulders, a broken leg.
He was in such bad shape and had
been there for such a long time they
said that they had to put him down.
That was where the animal cruelty
charge came from – the first charge.”
Sid is a “whole different animal,”
legally speaking. His case is considered civil – so far.
Were there others? It looks like
there were. Other pet owners have
stepped forward and are providing
information to the police. Where it
will lead is anybody’s guess.
PCT had hoped to interview Dr.
Tierce for this article and placed
calls to the Tierce home. Mrs.
Tierce answered and told PCT in
a telephone conversation that her
husband’s attorney had to approve
any and all interviews with the media
and that she would check with him
and get back with us. She had not
called back by PCT’s presstime.
Despite the ghastly things that
Tierce has admitted doing to animals,
he still has a pack of supporters.
About 60 came to his hearing, and
100’s have been brainstorming about
ways they can help him. They’ve