GRAND RAPIDS -- Cruel hoax or just plain cruel?

A local radio show host's announcement that he planned to drown a dog
today -- purportedly to draw attention to this week's drownings of two
children -- turned out to be a hoax, but still drew the ire of police and
dog lovers.

Callers flooded 911 dispatch centers with complaints before the stunt was
unveiled as a publicity put-on.

WKLQ-FM morning show hosts at 8 a.m. aired sound effects that were supposed
to sound like a dog being drowned at a nearby park. Disc jockeys then
admitted the effort was a ruse, saying it was intended to raise awareness of
recent child drownings.

Police say the hoax was insensitive to families of the drowning victims.
"I realize they do their stunts for ratings, but this one has gone too far,"
Grand Rapids Lt. Vincent Reilly said, noting he believes it is inappropriate
to compare a purposeful drowning of a dog to a loss of human life.

Police dispatchers and animal-control authorities were inundated with calls
from angry listeners Thursday night and this morning, alerting them to the
plans of the "Justice and Jim Show" program.

Reilly said he doesn't believe real emergency calls were hindered, but it
became a frustrating issue for authorities, who spent time explaining the
radio pitch likely was a gag.

Lt. Lawrence Frye said the hosts broke no laws, but acted irresponsibly.
"It's a pain in the *** because of the time we wasted ... taking all the
calls," Frye said after listening to the hoax this morning.

An animal-control official said a station representative assured her the
threat was a hoax Thursday, but the show's hosts maintained on-air that they
would follow through.

Jon Justice said he and his partner would drown the dog with 1-pound weights
attached to its legs near Kent County's Millennium Park. The stunt would
show how quickly a tragedy can happen, he said.

The dog, described as a 40-pound mixed breed named Mindy, had been slated
for euthanization today, claimed Justice, who uses an on-air alias and would
not disclose his real name.

He explained this morning that the dog, whose picture was posted on the
station's Web site, was a random photo from "Google Images."

The station pitched the proposed drowning in ads and brought attention to
the morning program, which has struggled to get ratings after WKLQ dropped
The Howard Stern Show more than two years ago.

Justice, 33, of Walker, said he was outraged by Tuesday's drowning of a
3-year-old at Millennium Park, and Wednesday's drowning of a 9-year-old at
Holland State Park.

But area animal lovers focused their outrage at him. Animal agencies
received more than 100 calls Thursday.

Matt Hanlon, regional president of Citadel Broadcasting which owns WKLQ, did
not return repeated calls to his office or home seeking comment. A
receptionist said he was refusing to talk about the issue.

Darrin Arriens, program director at WKLQ, said he knew nothing about the
plan until he heard it on Thursday's show. "The Justice and Jim Show" has
been on the air at WKLQ since February. Justice came to Grand Rapids from
WKLS-FM in Atlanta; Jim from KDGE-FM in Forth Worth-Dallas, Texas.

brought to you by theunapologeticmexican news resurrection services