COLUMBUS- The Polk County EMS employee who was fired last week for allegedly mutilating a dead dog, has now been charged in the case, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Michael David Purdy, 21, was charged on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 18 with resisting public officer, according to the arrest report. The charge is a Class 2 misdemeanor.

Purdy was charged for lying to police officers during the investigation, according to Polk County Sheriff Donald Hill.

Purdy was terminated from his job last week after he allegedly took a deceased dog from the Peniel and Little Mountain Road area in the Columbus Township and mutilated it. The mutilation, according to Hill and District Attorney Greg Newman, involved Purdy skinning and beheading the dog. The dog, named Goliath, was a Shiloh shepherd mix the family said they had for nine years.

Goliath was hit and killed by an ambulance on the way to an emergency call on Sunday night, Jan. 8 and Purdy allegedly went to the scene while off duty to pick up the dog. Purdy was not on duty at the time the dog was struck by the ambulance, according to county officials.

The sheriff’s office turned in possible charges on Purdy to the DA’s office and Newman said he searched the laws for a possible charge on Purdy regarding the mutilation of the dog, but none exist.

“There is no law that speaks to that situation,” Newman told the Bulletin this week. “I know it was offensive to a lot of people. That act in and of itself was not against the law.”

Newman said because the dog was deceased, there is no law against what Purdy allegedly did. The deceased dog was also taken from a state highway, not from private land.

Purdy was fired from the county on Wednesday, Jan. 11. Polk County Manager Marche Pittman said the county was made aware by the sheriff’s office of what had occurred and according to officers, Purdy did not tell them the truth about the series of events that led up to him taking and mutilating the animal. According to the county’s termination letter to Purdy, he was fired for unacceptable personal conduct and detrimental personal conduct as a result of his “illegal and inappropriate taking and mutilation of an animal; as well as your lying to officials who were investigating the incident.”

Purdy was released on no bond. His court date is scheduled for Feb. 8.