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Case ID: 16427
Classification: Stabbing
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
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Dog found with throat slit, left for dead
Erhard, MN (US)

Incident Date: Sunday, Jun 20, 2010
County: Otter Tail

Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 1 files available

Defendant/Suspect: Benjamin James Stavass

Case Updates: 7 update(s) available

Five days after being found barely alive, Star, a one year old German Shepherd mix, has a horrific survival story.

"The fact she survived is amazing. The fact she survived with no medical attention or any type of food or water is extremely amazing."

Star's neck had been slit twice. The cuts close to her major arteries, veins, and trachea.

"They may have tried to cut her neck lower down, but those injuries not as serious.

The dog left for dead, one week later, after roaming the area, a much skinnier Star came scratching at Greg Kugler's door. The infected wound smelled terrible.

"It wasn't really sick. It was timid, kind of scared."

Kugler got Star to safety, taking her in until help came.

"I didn't know if it'd live or die."

She's now at the Otter Tail County Humane Society. Workers are nursing her back to health. She no longer needs surgery. This netting is applying pressure to gauze on Star's wounds, wounds that will take at least one month to heal.

"Quite astounded for what she's been through that she still even trusts us."

Now, this tough animal is gaining weight, slowly eating and drinking again. Call it a miracle, she's still here and one lucky family will take care of her until she's adopted.

"She just wants her belly rubbed. To be hugged. She's actually wonderful in cars. She's just a sweet, sweet girl."

Donations for Star's care can be sent to the Otter Tail County Humane Society - 1933 West Fir Avenue, Fergus Falls 56537.

The Otter Tail County Sheriff's Department has two "persons of interest" in the case. Authorities say they'll talk with them Monday. They aren't sure where or why the dog's throat was slit.

Police say the owner left the dog with a friend, and was originally told Star was hit by a car.

"If they were trying to dispose of the dog, in obviously a very cruel way, instead of taking the dog and working with the owner to have the dog appropriately put down, but it does seem that these injuries were intentional."

The dog has no previous signs of abuse or trouble with law enforcement.


Case Updates

Benjamin Stavaas, the Underwood man who allegedly cut a dog's throat and left it to die in the summer of 2010, pled guilty to one count of felony animal cruelty on Nov. 3. He will be sentenced on Dec. 15.

Stavaas was charged in July 2010 with six counts of animal cruelty. In June, he allegedly become angry with his golden retriever mix, Star, and cut her throat before abandoning her. Star was found alive but injured in a rural Fergus Falls yard on June 21.

She was taken to the Humane Society of Otter Tail County and went through various forms of rehabilitation in following months.

Area animal rights protesters have advocated that Stavaas receive the maximum penalty for his alleged crimes: two years in prison and a $5,000 fine. If Judge Barbara Hanson agrees to the terms of the plea agreement signed by Stavaas and filed by the county attorney's office, he will be punished far less severely than that.

The plea agreement stipulates that the other five charges filed against Stavaas will be dismissed. In return, Stavaas will spend one year in jail and be placed on probation for two years. During that time, he must undergo a mental health evaluation and follow its recommendations, and he will not be allowed to own or have any unsupervised contact with animals.

If Stavaas receives this sentence, he could still face up to one year and nine months of prison time if he violates probation.

Though Stavaas would get a year in jail under the sentence, he will have already served close to six months of that by his sentencing date, allowing him to leave jail by the middle of 2012.

The Dec. 15 sentencing will mark an end to a long case, complicated by Stavaas skipping out on a July 2010 court date and fleeing the state. He evaded authorities for several months before he was arrested in Golden, Colo., after burglarizing a liquor store.
Source: fergusfallsjournal.com - Nov 11, 2011
Update posted on Nov 11, 2011 - 11:53AM 
Animal rights groups have turned out at a court hearing for a Minnesota man charged with trying to kill his dog.

Twenty-four-year-old Benjamin Stavaas of Battle Lake appeared in Otter Tail County Court on Monday.

Stavaas is charged with six counts of animal cruelty. He is accused of cutting the throat of a German shepherd mix named Star last June and leaving her to die. The dog survived.

Representatives of the Humane Society and other groups attended the hearing. His next hearing is set for June 13.

Stavaas has not entered a plea yet. He remains in jail, with bail set at $200,000 cash or bond with no conditions or $100,000 with conditions.
Source: austindailyherald.com - May 17, 2011
Update posted on May 17, 2011 - 9:42PM 
The man accused of slitting a dog's throat and leaving it for dead will finally face his charges in Minnesota after pleading guilty to burglary charges in Colorado.

Stavaas plead guilty April 21 to one felony burglary charge and was sentenced to two years probation according to Jefferson County Court administrators. They said he will be transferred to Minnesota where he will serve his probation and face his animal cruelty charges. A court date has not been set in Otter Tail County.

Benjamin Stavaas allegedly slit a dog's throat and left it to die in June of this year.
Stavaas, 23, was charged with animal cruelty, but he did not show up to his Otter Tail County court date in July.
On Oct. 5, his alleged girlfriend's car was found abandoned in Colorado.
The woman said she was no longer dating Stavaas and didn't know where he was, but investigators said they thought he might have been in the area.

"He's just been living a free man, while meanwhile Star is the one that's living behind bars here at the shelter and I just would like to reverse those roles," Otter Tail County Humane Society Manager Ericka Stoltenberg told KSAX in November, while Stavaas was missing.

"Everybody was pretty pleased, you know, they're glad that finally he's gonna have to face what he's done," kennel worker Laura Rovang said Wednesday.

Star, the dog, survived the attack, and has completely recovered physically, but after spending the past few months in the Otter Tail County Humane Society and a foster home, was taken to a rescue home to recuperate psychologically.
"They're just trying to get her adoptable," Rovang said. "There's a lot of work that needs to be done with her ... A lot of separation anxiety, she did not like to be left alone at all and, it's hard on her."
"This is not something we like to see but this is our chance to speak out and make it known how we feel about these things," Stoltenberg said in a July interview.
"Dogs are not just an inanimate object that you can do whatever you want with. So hopefully other people will think before you do that," Rovang said Wednesday.
Following Stavaas's arrest, a conviction and substantial sentence could send that message.

Stavaas was arrested and is in custody in Jefferson County, Colorado on burglary, theft, criminal mischief charges along with fugitive from justice charges from Otter Tail and Wadena counties. Authorities said he will remain in colorado until the new charges are dealt with and then will be extradited to Minnesota to face the charges from crimes that happened earlier.

"Just about everybody loves dogs and no one wants to see something like that happen, so when he's finally brought to justice, I think everyone has a certain sense of satisfaction," Otter Tail County Sheriff Brian Schlueter said Wednesday.
Source: ksax.com - Apr 22, 2011
Update posted on Apr 22, 2011 - 10:15PM 
A 23-year-old Battle Lake, Minn., man who was on the run after being accused of slitting his dog's throat was arrested at 2 a.m. today in Colorado on other charges, authorities said.

An arrest warrant was issued in July for Benjamin Stavaas when he failed to appear at a court date on the six charges of animal cruelty he faces, two of which are felonies.

Court records allege he admitted to knifing Star, his German shepherd mix, and leaving it to die. Star had surgery and recovered after being taken in by an area animal shelter.

Sgt. Al Frank of the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office said Stavaas was picked up today in Golden, Colo., and will face extradition back to Minnesota after the local charges are handled.

"We'll be looking at bringing him back there," Frank said.

When Stavaas will return to answer for the Otter Tail County charges depends on how the Colorado charges proceed, he said.

Inmate records at the jail in Jefferson County, Colo., show Stavaas was arrested by city police in Golden on suspicion of burglary, theft and criminal mischief.

He's being held on $5,000 bail on those charges, but he is also being held as a fugitive and therefore is not eligible for bail, according to jail records.

In addition to the Otter Tail County warrant, he's wanted on a warrant out of Wadena County, Minn., connected to convictions in 2006 for terroristic threats and domestic assault.

Stavaas' case garnered intense interested from animal groups in the area, such as Otter Tail County's Humane Society.

Laura Rovang, a Humane Society employee, said Star is now at an animal rescue awaiting adoption. She said they're pleased to hear that Stavaas has been arrested.

"We're all happy he's in custody and will be brought to justice for what he's done," she said.
Source: inforum.com - Dec 15, 2010
Update posted on Dec 15, 2010 - 8:14PM 
A 23-year-old from Battle Lake, Minn., accused of slitting his dog's throat has had no contact with Denver police, and if he had, he'd have been extradited, Otter Tail County officials say.

The Otter Tail County Humane Society told several news outlets on Thursday, including The Forum, that Stavaas had been picked up recently by Denver police.

Benjamin James Stavaas faces six animal cruelty and mistreatment charges linked to the alleged knifing in June, including two felonies. He missed a July 26 court date and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Ericka Stoltenberg, shelter manager for the Otter Tail County Humane Society, said a private investigator hired to help look for Stavaas told her he was detained in Denver but wasn't brought back to Fergus Falls because the arrest warrant applied in neighboring states only.

That's not true, said Lt. Matt McGuire of Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office.

McGuire said on Nov. 5 a detective with the sheriff's office spoke with a woman who is thought to have left town with Stavaas. Her car was towed in Denver, and deputies were called because her car was flagged as being linked to Stavaas.

The Otter Tail detective told the woman to wait for Denver police to arrive, but when they did, she refused to cooperate, McGuire said.

McGuire said the Otter Tail County warrant applies nationwide, as does a Wadena County (Minn.), warrant connected to 2006 convictions for terroristic threats and domestic assault. Stavaas had been on probation for the earlier charges before absconding.

Stoltenberg wasn't immediately available for comment this morning.

The case has attracted interest from animal supporters who have said they would like Stavaas, if he's convicted, to be sentenced to the maximum two years in prison on the felonies.

Authorities allege the 23-year-old admitted he knifed Star, his German shepherd mix, after the dog angered him by running after a car.
Source: inforum.com - Nov 12, 2010
Update posted on Nov 12, 2010 - 12:52PM 
Dog loving animal rights activists were not surprised when Benjamin Stavaas, 23, failed to appear in court yesterday. The man, accused of brutally slashing his own dog's throat and leaving her for dead, is now facing a warrant for his arrest, on top of the 6 criminal charges, which include animal torture and cruelty.

The individuals that did show up to the Otter Tail Courthouse yesterday had their own thoughts on Benjamin Stavaas. Some family members admitted that Stavaas has some "anger issues" and many animal rights activists commented that Stavaas is a coward, hence the no-show at the courthouse to face the charges held against him.

Stavaas' crime? In mid-June, a farmer found Star, a white German shepherd mix, with her throat badly slashed. The dog suffered from multiple slashes on her neck, and apparently, had been left for dead. The farmer took Star to the Otter Tail County Humane Society where she was treated and put into foster care.

Stavaas initially told authorities that his dog had been hit by a car, and that he had slashed her throat to end her suffering. His story changed after he was told that his story didn't match findings by a veterinarian's exam.

New story? He slashed his dog's neck after he flew into a fit of rage because Star was not trainable. Apparently, the dog, when put outside, had chased a car. Stavaas became enraged and used a knife to brutally slash her throat.

The animal cruelty charges are not Stavaas' first brush with the law. In 2006, Benjamin Stavaas was convicted in Wadena County for terroristic threats and domestic assault.

As for Star, she is recovering well at her foster home. According to the Humane Society, Star is still a friendly, affectionate dog, despite the brutal attack that nearly took her life.

If you are interested in weighing in with your thoughts on Benjamin Stavaas' despicable behavior, you can write to: Otter Tail County Court Administration �" 121 West Junius Ave. No. 310 �" Fergus Falls, MN 56537. Let court officials know that animal abuse is not a crime to be taken lightly and that Stavaas deserves the maximum penalty of the law for his abusive actions.
Source: examiner.com - Jul 27, 2010
Update posted on Jul 27, 2010 - 3:55PM 
A 23-year old Battle Lake man faces a long list of charges after he is accused of animal torture and cruelty. Benjamin James Stavass faces two Felony counts of animal cruelty and torture also 4 misdemeanor charges.

Stavass was not arrested but a summons to appear in court was issued by the Otter Tail County Sheriff. "Star," this German Sheppard mix, had its throat cut and was brought to the humane society after a farmer found it.

"Star" survived the emergency surgery to save her life, and is now in foster care awaiting adoption. Authorities say the crime was horrific and senseless.

“We deal with a few animal cruelty cases, but usually those are neglect and starvation type cases but nothing like this.”

Stavaass faces 18-thousand dollars in fines and more than 6-years in jail as the maximum penalty if convicted on all six charges. His trial is scheduled for July 26th in Otter tail County.
Source: WDAY - July 7, 2010
Update posted on Jul 9, 2010 - 12:27AM 

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