Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Dog beaten, thrown, stabbed in the eye with needle

Dog beaten, thrown, stabbed in the eye with needle
Madison, WI (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006
County: Dane
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted

Abuser/Suspect: Jeremiah Purtell

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 7937

Classification: Beating, Stabbing, Choking / Strangulation / Suffocation

Animal: dog (non pit-bull)

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According to Jeremiah Purtell's girlfriend, Purtell moved into her apartment on Madison's Far East side in mid February. A couple of weeks later, both dogs started to suffer a string of bizarre injuries.

Shetland Sheep Dog Arrow had two broken legs, cuts to his tail, legs and hind quarter, and a punctured eye that caused him to go blind in that eye.

Scottish Terrier Harry suffered bruises on his face, and died of massive trauma to the liver.

According to the criminal complaint, Purtell admitted to abusing the dogs, including beating Arrow with pipe, swinging him around by his legs and hitting him against the wall, and sticking a needle in his eye. Purtell says, after Harry bit him on the cheek, he kneeled on Harry and choked him.

Purtell faces a maximum 10 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

Case Updates

A 21-year-old former Madison man will spend nearly six months in jail for viciously abusing two dogs belonging to his then-girlfriend last year on the city's Far East Side.

Jeremiah J. Purtell of West Bend was sentenced Wednesday in Dane County Circuit Court to nearly six months in jail and five years of probation for killing one of the dogs and leaving the other one blind and hobbled with two broken legs. He begins a jail sentence, with work-release privileges, in Washington County on May 19.

"The behavior was very disturbing," Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey said Wednesday. "He has some mental problems, but I don't think that fully explains his aggressive and vicious behavior."

The criminal complaint says Purtell told police he hurt the dogs over a six-week period starting in February 2006, when he moved into his then- girlfriend's apartment.

The woman, who was studying to be a veterinary technician at Madison Area Technical College, called police in March 2006 after finding one of the dogs limping. She said the animals had suffered injuries only after being alone with Purtell.

One dog, a 2-year-old Scottish terrier named Harry, died from a lacerated liver after Purtell admitted choking him and pressing his knee into the animal. Harry died March 8.

The other dog, named Arrow, survived Purtell's attacks with fractures to both left legs. The year-old Shetland sheep dog also suffered cuts to his tail and one leg and a severe eye injury caused when Purtell used a needle to completely perforate the dog's cornea and lens capsule, leaving him blind.

Police said Purtell told them he would hurt the dogs after they had accidents on the floor or when he got depressed because they didn't want to "cuddle" with him. He admitted swinging the sheep dog around the apartment by his leg and striking him with a small pipe.

Purtell told his then-girlfriend that Arrow was injured by running into stereo speakers, but a veterinarian who examined the dog said the injuries could not have happened that way.

"I think (Purtell) has a disconnect relative to how he can do this to animals, such torturous types of behavior and such violent behavior, and yet be so cold and cunning when he dealt with (his ex- girlfriend)," Humphrey said.

Purtell pleaded no contest on Nov. 16 to two felony counts of causing death by mistreating animals and one misdemeanor count of intentionally mistreating animals. As part of a plea agreement, three other misdemeanors were dismissed but "read in," meaning they could be considered at sentencing.

Judge James Martin on Wednesday also required Purtell to get anger management counseling and any required psychological treatment. A probation agent will make checks to ensure that Purtell owns no animals, Humphrey said.

Purtell could have received up to seven years for the two felony counts. But Humphrey said he never believed the abuse warranted prison time.

"I thought it was (a case that called for) a long probation and a significant amount of jail time," he said Wednesday.

Source: Wisconsin State Journal - March 29, 2007
Update posted on Mar 29, 2007 - 3:09PM

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WKOW - April 3, 2006

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Dog beaten, thrown, stabbed in the eye with needleMadison, WI (US)

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Dog beaten, thrown, stabbed in the eye with needle
Madison, WI (US)