A Callaway County man says he still hasn't seen his dog more than a year after deputies took the animal into custody during his arrest along Interstate 70, and he now plans to sue three members of the sheriff's office over what he calls repeated abandonment. Jack Walker told investigators he experienced a medical emergency at a truck stop in Callaway County, and that deputies who responded ended up taking his dog, Dodger, and losing track of him.
According to ABC 17 News, Walker was traveling through Missouri toward Kansas with Dodger on July 17, 2025, when he was taken to jail over an unpaid traffic ticket dating back to 2015. The Callaway County Sheriff's Office took possession of Dodger that day, and Walker says he has not seen his dog since. He told the station he spent three days searching for Dodger around Callaway County after his release.
A Trail That Led to a Truck Stop and a Police Station
Walker alleges Callaway County Sheriff Darryl Maylee abandoned Dodger on three separate occasions, including once at a truck stop, according to the station's report. Walker says Dodger was found in the middle of the interstate about 30 minutes after being left there. Walker's attorneys say a Callaway County deputy also allegedly left Dodger in the vestibule area of the Fulton Police Department on the day of the arrest, and that surveillance video obtained through an open-records request shows a deputy leaving the dog there without speaking to anyone inside.
Walker alleges that Sheriff Maylee admitted to him that he let Dodger go twice. Maylee has confirmed his office picked up a dog but said he did not know what happened to the animal, per the same account. Maylee also said a shelter would turn animals away if it were full.
Jurisdictional Gap Between County and City
Central to Walker's allegations is a jurisdictional gap between Callaway County and the City of Fulton. The Callaway County Sheriff's Office has said the county has no animal shelter of its own, and the Callaway County Health Department has reported that the county has no dedicated animal control authority — its involvement in animal cases ends with investigating bites. The office maintains only two emergency kennels, the outlet's report notes.
Dodger was eventually received by the Sam and Daisy Grabb Animal Shelter in Fulton after being left at the truck stop, according to Walker. But a shelter manager told the station the facility accepts animals only for the City of Fulton, not for unincorporated Callaway County. Walker alleges the shelter was refusing to take county animals at the time because of roughly $4,000 in unpaid county bills. A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper allegedly told Walker he needed to get an attorney.
Sheriff's Office Under Recent Scrutiny
Sheriff Maylee has led the department since being appointed interim sheriff by the Callaway County Commission in June 2023, after his predecessor, Clay Chism, was suspended, according to 939 The Eagle. Chism later pleaded guilty in December 2023 to driving while intoxicated, and the state Department of Public Safety permanently revoked his peace officer license after administrative proceedings over working while impaired, as reported by KXEO.
The sheriff's office has faced other animal-related controversy recently. In July 2026, a deputy fatally shot a loose dog while attempting to serve an arrest warrant near Auxvasse, prompting the office to release bodycam footage of the incident, KXEO reported. Missing-pet notices circulated in the region in August 2025 had also described Dodger, a black-and-tan dog, as lost after allegedly being left near a travel plaza in Kingdom City.
What Missouri Law Says About Abandonment
Under Missouri Revised Statutes § 578.009, knowingly leaving an animal anywhere without providing for its adequate care can constitute abandonment, a Class C misdemeanor carrying up to a $500 fine and possible jail time for a first offense, according to the Animal Legal & Historical Center. Courts can waive fines on a first conviction if remedies are completed, but mandatory care and maintenance costs incurred for the animal cannot be waived, per the Stone County Sheriff's Office. Separately, state law classifies animal abuse as a Class A misdemeanor under § 578.012, which can rise to a Class E felony if an animal suffers torture or mutilation or if the offender has a prior conviction.
Missouri ranked 36th nationally for animal protection legislation in a state ranking report from the Animal Legal Defense Fund, according to a petition posted on Change.org, a ranking advocates say reflects broader statutory limits on county-level animal control mandates. In counties like Callaway that lack dedicated animal control agencies, the Humane Society of Missouri's Animal Cruelty Task Force says it can offer investigation assistance across all 114 Missouri counties.
Walker says he plans to file his lawsuit against three members of the Callaway County Sheriff's Office within the next couple of months.
