Why helping free dog landed men behind bars

They had turned off pound security lights and cut the lock with wire cutters, he said.

Miller told police Vickers had been like a mother to him and he didn't want her dog to be put down, Hernandez said.

"They were basing it on the rumor, and it turns out their information was false," Hernandez said. "We had no intentions of putting the dog down. The family understood they were going to get the dog back once they built the fence."

Miller, a juvenile, was cited and released to his mother. Thompson and Gonzalez were booked into the Carter County jail on complaints of second-degree burglary. Charges were filed Monday, records show.

Vickers' family didn't ask that the dog be allowed to attend his master's services, Hernandez said.