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Case #7680 Rating: 4.0 out of 5
Dog shot to death
Downingtown, PA (US)Incident Date: Friday, Jun 24, 2005
County: Chester
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Wyatt R. Ingram
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A Downingtown man who shot and killed a neighbor's dog that came into his backyard was convicted of one count of animal cruelty on March 13, 2006.
Wyatt Ingram, 49, said he shot neighbor William Belmonte's Saint Bernard on June 24 after the dog came onto his Hopewell Drive property and became aggressive.
Ingram's attorney, Dan Bush, called President Judge Paula Francisco Ott's ruling "extremely unfortunate" and said his client was considering an appeal.
"It (the dog) attacked the man's wife and 7-year-old son and was in the act of destroying his animals. The court said that he did not have the right to protect those interests, despite laws that say otherwise," Bush said.
The verdict was read after a two-day bench trial before Ott concluded last week.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Noone said the judge did not buy the defendant's claim that the dog threatened to attack him.
Despite its name, "Cujo" -- for a rabid dog that terrorizes a small town in a fictional Stephen King novel -- the Saint Bernard had never been hostile, according to its owner.
Noone said Monday that Belmonte was satisfied that Ingram was convicted of "killing his dog, lying about it and trying to hide it."
Belmonte suspected that Cujo had been shot when his other dog, a small, brown, mixed-breed returned home with a gunshot wound to its rear leg.
He contacted police on June 27, after Cujo had been missing for several days.
Initially, Ingram denied any involvement, but he later admitted to the shooting after police discovered Cujo's decomposing body in the woods behind his home, according to court records.
Bush said the dogs were known to come onto Ingram's property because he has a large deer pen.
"It did not happen often, but maybe five to six times in the 19 years that he had the pen. Generally he was able to yell at them (the dogs) to get them to leave. But that when he tried this time, they became aggressive," he said.
According to the defendant, the dogs were barking at the deer, scaring them into charging the pen fence and possibly injuring themselves.
Ingram said he only fired his shotgun when Cujo turned to attack him and then fired two warning shots to scare off the other dog.
A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled, but Noone said that because a deadly weapon was used in the crime, Ingram could possibly face jail time.
Noone, however, would not say what sentence he would ask for, pending the outcome of a pre-sentence investigation ordered by Ott.
Bush said Ingram is an animal lover whose family owns a variety of pets.
He said that the shooting was an unfortunate, but unavoidable, decision that Ingram was forced to make and called a sentence including any amount of jail time "inappropriate."
Case UpdatesA Downingtown man who killed his neighbor's St. Bernard was ordered yesterday to spend three days to 12 months in jail.
Chester County Court President Judge Paula Francisco Ott also ordered Wyatt R. Ingram, 49, to perform 500 hours of community service, preferably at the SPCA, and to pay restitution of $600 to William Belmonte, the dog's owner.
Ott found Ingram guilty of cruelty to animals after a nonjury trial in March. | Source: Philadelphia Inquirer - Jun3 13, 2006
Update posted on Jul 9, 2006 - 11:37PM |
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