[sfordnews] Attempted dog drowning
- From: John S. Grispon <DiscoG@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: New List <sfordnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:56:05 -0400
Charges filed in attempted
dog drowning
Saturday, October 3, 2009
By Carl Hessler Jr.
chessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
NORRISTOWN — A Douglass (Mont.) man who allegedly tried to drown a
township woman's Dachshund in a back yard swimming pool is fighting
animal cruelty charges.
Nathan App, 20, waived his arraignment in Montgomery County Court and
pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of cruelty to animals and
disorderly conduct in connection with the July incident that occurred
at a home in the 100 block of Hillside Drive where he was staying.
By waiving his scheduled Oct. 14 arraignment, App will not have to
appear before a judge for a formal reading of the charges lodged
against him. App will now be scheduled for trial.
An arraignment proceeding marks the first opportunity an offender has
to enter a plea to the charges.
App faces a possible maximum sentence of 2 ½- to-5-years in prison if
he's convicted of animal cruelty at trial.
App, who remains free on $10,000 unsecured bail, is prohibited from
having any contact with the dog's owner and must undergo a
psychological evaluation as conditions of bail, according to court
documents.
An investigation of App began about 11:45 a.m. July 24 when township
police responded to the home to investigate a report from a woman who
claimed App tried to drown her 2-year-old male Dachshund in her
swimming pool at the rear of the residence.
"The dog was still wet and appeared to be having some breathing
difficulty," Douglass (Mont.) Police Officer Brian Steffie wrote in
the arrest affidavit.
The dog's owner, who rushed the dog to a veterinarian for treatment
after the incident, told police she was alerted to the attempted
drowning by her neighbors who had witnessed the alleged cruelty.
Two neighbor women reported they observed App pull the dog by a leash
into the pool area and then throw the dog into the water, according to
the arrest affidavit. One witness claimed App tossed the dog into the
air and watched the dog land in the pool.
"She stated that the defendant then pulled the dog by the leash across
the pool to the far side and the defendant began to lift the dog by
the leash and repeatedly dunk the dog under the water," Steffie alleged.
"The defendant then forcefully held the dog under the water in what
appeared to be an attempt to drown the animal," Steffie added in the
arrest affidavit.
The neighbors yelled at and confronted App and he allegedly pulled the
dog out of the water, police said.
One of the witnesses observed that "the animal appeared to be in
distress, barely able to move or walk," Steffie alleged, explaining
the neighbors then contacted the animal's owner to advise her of what
happened.
Under state law, a person engages in animal cruelty when they
willfully and maliciously kill, maim, mutilate or torture an animal.
John S. Grispon
discog@xxxxxxxxxxx
610-948-7655
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