Dogs poisoned with antifreeze
Wilkinsburg, PA (US)

Incident Date: Saturday, Mar 27, 2004
County: Allegheny

Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: John Cassase

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

On March 28, 2005, John Cassase faced the judge who would sentence him for poisoning two dogs and asked to directly address the woman who owned and loved those dogs.

"I am not a bad person and I do not think you are a bad person," Cassase told Nancy Dilworth, his former neighbor in the Regent Square neighborhood of Wilkinsburg. "I know it is difficult. I am extremely sorry."

Cassase, 54, who now lives on Penn Avenue, Downtown, faced a maximum penalty of four years in prison for two counts of animal cruelty, which are misdemeanor criminal charges.

Common Pleas Judge Cheryl Allen sentenced Cassase to four years of probation, $2,000 in fines, $1,282 in restitution and ordered him to pay the cost of prosecution.

Cassase told Wilkinsburg police he threw bread soaked with antifreeze into Dilworth's Hay Street yard because the barking of dogs caused him to endure "sleep deprivation." He entered a guilty plea on Jan. 27.

"The court views this as a very serious case," said Allen. "There are mitigating factors as well as aggravating factors.

"The court recognizes that no sentence could compensate the victim for the pain she has suffered. Mr. Cassase is clearly in need of mental health treatment and I am glad he has sought it."

Cassase has complained that "adverse publicity is impacting his career and the agency" he works for, Assistant District Attorney Deb Jugan told Allen.

Since June 2003, Cassase has been executive director of the Peer Support and Advocacy Network, which has offices at 938 Penn Ave., Downtown.

The nonprofit agency provides support and counseling for people with mental illness.

"He needs to take responsibility" for his actions, Jugan said. "He has brought this on himself, not the media. He totally destroyed Nancy Dilworth. ... Give him at least a taste of jail."

Mitigating factors in this case, noted defense attorney Tom Brown, include that Cassase has no prior criminal record, has a long history of working for social service agencies and accrued many hours of volunteer service for multiple groups and agencies.

Brown said Cassase voluntarily sought professional counseling after the dogs died. Cassase is being treated for depression and anxiety, according to court records.

"Words can not convey how much I loved my dogs," said Dilworth, 35, in her victim's impact statement yesterday. The March 27, 2004, deaths of Sanford and Alonzo have caused her feelings of "grief, sadness, loneliness, fear and anxiety" that persist to this day, she told the judge.

The dogs -- a Labrador retriever-mix and a German shepherd-mix -- were vomiting and urinating uncontrollably for several days, despite the ministrations of a veterinarian, because Dilworth did not know they had been poisoned.

But by the time she figured out it was antifreeze, both dogs had irreversible kidney damage and had to be euthanized.

Dilworth reported the dog deaths and her suspicions to Wilkinsburg police and the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society.

Bob Gosser, who investigates cruelty cases for the Humane Society, testified yesterday that he interviewed neighbors and no one except Cassase had any complaints about barking dogs.

Neither Dilworth nor her dog-owning neighbors ever were cited by police for having dogs that barked excessively.

Cassase is barred from having any contact with any animals. Allen imposed that condition in January after Jugan asked her to do so. Yesterday Jugan said she had learned that Cassase has a pet bird, which would be a probation violation.

Brown said Cassase would find a good home for the bird within 48 hours.

Case Updates

References

• - March 29, 2005
• - March 28, 2005
• « PA State Animal Cruelty Map
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