Dog tied to truck bumper, dragged to death
Kendall, WI (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Apr 2, 2006
County: Monroe
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Anthony P. Farrington
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
A Juneau County man pleaded not guilty to the dragging death of his roommate's dog. Anthony Farrington told investigators it was an accident.
Farrington made his initial court appearance April 17, 2006. A sheriff's report said a five-year-old chow named Puffer, owned by Sean McBride, was found dead, attached to Farrington's truck with a leash, along a highway. According to the report, Puffer's stomach had torn apart, and his feet were rubbed raw to the bone. Investigators say Farrington admitted he drank at least eight beers on April 2, 2006, when the incident occurred.
Case UpdatesThe case of a Wisconsin Dells man accused of dragging a dog to death behind his pickup truck has caused interested citizens to ask for harsh sentencing of the young man, who has not yet been convicted.
Anthony P. Farrington, 27, Wisconsin Dells, was charged last April with one felony count of mistreating and causing the death of his roommate's chow dog after authorities say he attached the dog's collar to the hitch of his truck and dragged it for three and a half miles.
At Farrington's initial appearance, a Madison man stood in the back of the courtroom displaying a picture of a chow dog, the type of dog that died in the incident. Others have written letters to the court or the Star-Times about the incident.
Although Farrington has not been convicted of the crime, that didn't stop Dolores Stasiak, of Milwaukee, from asking the court to impose the maximum sentence on him.
Stasiak said she read about the case in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and was disgusted. "There's no excuse for that kind of cruelty," she said. "How could anyone put that dog through that kind of torture?"
Stasiak called her state senator, Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee), to speak to him about the Farrington case. Carpenter gave her the name and address of Juneau County District Judge John Roemer, she said.
Stasiak, a longtime animal lover, then organized a petition asking Judge Roemer to impose the maximum penalty allowed by the law on Farrington.
Her petition was signed by 102 individuals, mostly from the Milwaukee area. "These are people I've worked with and people who have worked with animals or at pet stores and such," she said adding that she owns a dog and a few cats as pets.
Stasiak said she also contacted officials in a similar case in Menominee in 1988, in which a man dragged a male basset hound from a vehicle.
Others have written their own letters to Judge Roemer, some anonymously. One man, Sam Stassi, of Madison, wrote asking that Farrington "not be given any mercy."
Other letters have asked for more than the maximum punishment allowed by law.
One woman, Betty A. Potachich, of West Allis, wrote to the court saying, "If I had my way, I would tie him to the back bumper of that truck, drive 10-15 [miles per hour] for 3.5 miles, like he did to that poor animal, and have people pledge money to your local humane society." Potachich even wrote that she would be willing to donate $10 herself.
Potachich asked Judge Roemer to impose on Farrington the stiffest possible sentence "plus 20 hours a month for 3.5 years volunteering at your local humane society, plus a hefty fine."
(Incidentally, the Juneau County Humane Society has been ordered closed by Judge Roemer pending the outcome of a civil case filed by lifetime members of the shelter against members and former members of the shelter's board of directors. Members of the board involved in that case have also been charged with three felonies and 45 misdemeanor counts of mistreatment of animals in Juneau County.)
"Hopefully you have a big open heart in this matter, so JUSTICE will be served," Potachich wrote to Roemer.
According to court documents, Farrington told authorities he accidentally hit the dog with his truck while looking for it after it escaped from he and his roommate's yard. He said he dragged the dog after it was already deceased, documents show.
Authorities say the paws of the dog were worn down, indicating that it was still alive when the dragging began and it had tried to resist.
Farrington is scheduled to appear in court again on July 25. If convicted, he could face three and a half years in prison and $10,000 in fines. | Source: Wisconsin News - June 2, 2006
Update posted on Jul 2, 2006 - 6:32PM |
Anthony P. Farrington was charged with one felony count of mistreating and causing the death of an animal on April 3, the day after the alleged incident.
The criminal complaint said he told authorities he accidentally hit the dog with his truck while looking for it after it got loose from his front yard, where it had been tied to a tree.
Prosecutors say the dog's legs were worn to the bones, showing that the dog had been alive and trying to resist. At the scene, police say they used a video camera to film a 3.4 mile path on the roads on which the dog was allegedly dragged.
Farrington's roommate at the time, Sean McBride, had been moving material to another residence. When he returned to find his dog was missing, he and Farrington went looking for it, he said.
While driving around looking for the dog, they allegedly came across Farrington's truck, with the mutilated dog attached to the trailer hitch by a portion of the dog's collar. "I asked him if there was something behind his truck," McBride said. "He said, 'no.'"
Initially, he thought his dog, Puffer, might be hiding underneath Farrington's truck, McBride said. After jumping out of the car and running over to the truck to investigate, he noticed the dog was severely mutilated. "I held it up in front of him and said, 'How? How does this happen?'" he said.
McBride, who was at Farrington's court appearance Monday, said he would be able to forgive Farrington, but could never forget what happened. "My main thing that I'd like to tell Tony is just to get the help," McBride said. "I'm not real sure prison time is what he needs."
The news of Farrington's charges two weeks ago was enough to cause a Madison man, Dennis Balczewski, to make the trip to Juneau County for Farrington's initial appearance. "I'm just a concerned individual," Balczewski said calling the allegations against Balczewski disgusting.
"He needs to be locked up," Balczewski said.
Prior to court being in session, Balczewski stood in the back of the court room holding up a picture of the dog which died in the alleged incident, causing heads to turn.
During Farrington's appearance, District Judge John Roemer interrupted the proceedings to question Balczewski. "Sir, is there a reason why that picture is being shown?" Roemer said.
"This is the dog that he killed ... a picture of the dog that he killed," Balczewski said.
Roemer asked Balczewski to put the picture away.
McBride said he does not know Balczewski, and the picture he was holding was not McBride's dog, but it was the same type.
Farrington, represented by public defender Randall Holtz, pleaded not guilty to criminal traffic charges of operating after revocation and operating under the influence.
He waived the 20-day time limits for a preliminary hearing on his felony charge, in which the state would have to prove there is probable cause to believe a felony has been committed and that Farrington committed it.
He was put on a $200 cash bond for the traffic charges and his bond for the felony charge was continued. He was previously ordered not to have contact with his roommate, domestic animals or reptiles and not to operate a motor vehicle without a license.
His next appearance is scheduled for June 14. | Source: Star-Times
Update posted on Jun 4, 2006 - 7:20PM |
References
« More cases in Monroe County, WI
|
