A man has been cited by the Gage County Sheriff’s Office for throwing a kennel with a deceased dog inside into the Big Blue River, in Blue Springs, Nebraska.
On the evening of Friday, March 21, 2025, deputies were dispatched to the Big Blue River Bridge for a report of a deceased dog that was in a kennel in the river. Deputies investigated the incident and determined the possible owner of the dog was 34-year-old Shawn Sommerville of Wymore, Nebraska.
The Beatrice Humane Society took possession of the deceased animal, which deputies turned over to the Animal Control Officer to transport to Beatrice.
During the investigation deputies interviewed Sommerville who admitted the animal died while at his house in Wymore and he took the deceased animal, still in the kennel, to the Big Blue River and threw it in the river.
Sommerville was cited for violations of state statutes regarding animal neglect and depositing a carcass in a waterway.