Adopted dog tortured - Front Royal, VA

Sunday, Sep 23, 2007

County: Warren

Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Joseph Paul Godfrey

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

On or about September 23, 2007 in the County of Warren, Joseph Paul Godfrey 277 Cindy's Way, Front Royal, VA 22630 did torture, willfully inflict inhumane injury or pain not connected with bonafide scientific or medical experimentation or cruelly and unnecessarily beat, maim, or mutilate a dog that was a companion animal and as a direct result caused the euthanasia of such
animal on the recommendation of a licensed veterinarian who determined such euthanasia was necessary due to the condition of the animal.

Case Updates

A former Fauquier County resident who pled guilty to felony animal cruelty this summer was recently sentenced in Warren County Circuit Court. During a Sept. 9 hearing, Joseph Paul Godfrey of Front Royal was sentenced to a year in jail with nine months suspended, court records show. He was also put on a work release program, ordered to pay $890 in court costs and make restitution in the amount of $426. Godfrey will be on supervised probation for two years after he gets out of jail. Suzanne Ashby, an humane investigator for Fauquier County, said the charge against Godfrey stemmed from the death of a 10-pound miniature pinscher Godfrey adopted from a local shelter. After the injured dog was euthanized, a forensic vet determined that Godfrey had fatally injured the animal. A grand jury indicted him on April 15. After several continuances, Godfrey entered an Alford plea of guilty July 1. By doing so, Godfrey did not admit any wrongdoing, but conceded the prosecution had enough proof to convince a judge or jury to find him guilty.

Source: fauquier.com - Sept 17 2008 Update posted on Dec 3, 2010 - 10:54AM

References

• warrencountyreport.com - Apr 2008

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