A December 2007 Newsweek article reported shortly after the animal's death, the local prosecuting attorney wrote a letter to the Arkansas state police asking them to investigate the case to see if the two young men involved [one being Huckabee's then 17-year old son, David] had violated state animal cruelty laws. The state police did not look into the matter, and no charges were filed.
John Bailey, then director of Arkansas's state police, told Newsweek personnel in Governor Huckabee's employ (his chief of staff and personal lawyer) leaned on him to write a letter officially denying the local prosecutor's request for an investigation. Wrote Newsweek: "Bailey, a career officer who had been appointed chief by Huckabee's Democratic predecessor, said he viewed the lawyer's intervention as improper and terminated the conversation." Bailey was fired by Huckabee seven months later, with (according to Bailey) one of the reasons given by Huckabee being that "I couldn't get you to help me with my son when I had that problem." Newsweek quoted I.C. Smith, the former FBI chief in Little Rock, as saying "Without question, [Huckabee] was making a conscious attempt to keep the state police from investigating his son."