Wife Of Man Accused Of Animal Cruelty Threatened

Monday, March 04, 2013 - 12:46 PM

The wife of the man at the center of a high-profile animal cruelty case was threatened over the weekend.  According to a report filed with the Hancock County Sheriff's Office Susan Mompher received a phone call while working at Teddy's Rescue Saturday morning.  The caller, who did not identify herself, asked Mompher if she still worked at the rescue.  When Mompher said that she did, the caller allegedly replied, "not for long, you're gonna die" and hung up.  Mompher dialed *69 and got the number, which she reported to the sheriff's office.

Deputy Tami House followed up the complaint by calling the number, and reached Melissa Demmy; who admitted to making the call, but said she did not threaten to kill Mompher.  House warned Demmy that criminal charges could be filed based on the complaint, and Demmy apologized.  Demmy was also given a warning for menacing.

In the meantime Mompher's husband Tim is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Wednesday.  He faces a misdemeanor charge of using a prohibited method of destroying a domestic animal.  Mompher is accused of snapping a kitten's neck last fall.  He says he was ordered to kill the animal by Missy VanWormer, a former manager at the Findlay shelter.