Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Dog's throat cut

Dog's throat cut
Athens, NY (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006
County: Greene
Disposition: Convicted

Abusers/Suspects:
» Michael Scheir
» Joseph Wheeler

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Case ID: 8316

Classification: Stabbing, Neglect / Abandonment

Animal: dog (non pit-bull)

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Abuse was retaliation against animal's bad behavior

Two Greene County men who allegedly cut a dog's throat and dumped him on a back-country road were arrested on felony animal cruelty charges on May 2.

Michael Scheir, 32, and Joseph Wheeler, 24, both of Athens, told police the English Springer Spaniel, named Frankie, had nipped the face of a child so they allegedly decided to kill it, authorities said.

They took a kitchen knife and drove to the roadside to dispose of the dog, they told police. Authorities say the investigation began on April 18, when a resident saw a car pull away from the roadside and saw the occupants of the car dump an English springer spaniel on the ground.

State Police Sgt. Lisa Barkman said the animal was rushed to a veterinarian with cuts from a knife on both sides of its throat. The vets saved the dog.

"He's doing physically much better now but emotionally he's damaged," said Ron Perez, president of the Columbia-Greene Humane Society which has taken the dog in. "This was a very gregarious dog before this, according to a former owner, but now if a man tries to get close to him he gets antsy. We have women tending to him."

After the dog was brought to the hospital, it was noted he had a location chip inserted under his skin as a puppy and his original owner was tracked down. That man told authorities that he gave the dog to Scheir because he could not care for him any longer.

State Police in Catskill charged them each with aggravated animal cruelty, a felony under the state's 1999 Buster's Law, which was inspired by a Schenectady cat named Buster who was set on fire.

They were also charged with a misdemeanor charge of animal abandonment.

The pair were arraigned and released on their own recognizance pending further court action. They face up to two years in jail and a $5,000 fine on the Buster's Law violation and up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine on the misdemeanor count, police said.

Case Updates

Two Catskills-area men have pleaded guilty to trying to cut the throat of an English spaniel and then tossing him from a car onto a back country road in May.

Under Buster's Law, 24-year-old Joseph Wheeler and 32-year-old Michael Scheir of Athens were charged with felony aggravated animal cruelty.

A Greene County grand jury dropped the felony charges in August, after deciding that 2-year-old Frankie's injuries were not life-threatening.

Scheir and Wheeler told police the dog nipped at a child at their home in April, so they drove the dog to a remote roadside to dispose of him. According to their statements, Scheir had trouble cutting the dog's throat with a knife so Wheeler assisted. They then allegedly tossed the dog from the car's open window and sped off.

The two men each pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of injuring an animal in Athens Town Court on Thursday. They've been sentenced to three years' probation, community service and nearly 12-hundred dollars in restitution and fines.

Buster's Law, which makes some cases of animal cruelty a felony, is named for a cat that was doused with gasoline and set ablaze in Schenectady several years ago.

Frankie now has a new home.

Source: WCAX - Oct 28, 2006
Update posted on Oct 29, 2006 - 8:48AM

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Two men who allegedly slit a dog's throat and left him for dead won't be prosecuted under Buster's Law, a much-heralded measure that was supposed to get tough on animal abusers.

A Greene County grand jury did not indict the men on felony animal cruelty charges for allegedly trying to kill Frankie, a 2-year-old English cocker spaniel.

The knife Michael Scheir, 32, and Joseph Wheeler, 24, both of Athens, Greene County, used to try to cut the dog's throat apparently was not sharp enough, and grand jurors heard evidence that the wounds were superficial as a result, said county District Attorney Terry Wilhelm.

State Police in Catskill charged the men on May 2 under Buster's Law, passed in 1999 and named for a cat that was set on fire and killed in Schenectady.

Scheir and Wheeler had told police the dog nipped a child's face, so they decided to kill it, authorities said.

They told police that they took a kitchen knife April 18 and drove the dog to a remote roadside to dispose of him, authorities said.

According to their statements, Scheir had trouble cutting one side of the dog's throat, so Wheeler slashed the other side, troopers said. They then allegedly tossed the pet out the car window and drove off.

Authorities said a resident saw the incident and rushed the dog to a veterinarian.

Assemblyman James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, who made Buster's Law a personal cause and pushed for its passage, said the men should have called police or animal control if the dog was a problem.

"It's kind of disappointing that the jurors didn't see it that way, because we can't go around with vigilantism, taking the law into their own hands," Tedisco said. "I'm not defending the animal for what it did, but I am chastising the legal process."

Tedisco added that killing animals is a "bridge crime" that can lead to worse offenses. He cited serial killers like David Berkowitz, known as the "Son of Sam," who killed animals before turning to humans.

Frankie has a new family and a new name: Toby. He lives in an undisclosed location with a family that has two other dogs, a couple of cats and a lot of room to run, said Barbara Bobrowich, co-owner of Sobaka Kennels in Livingston, Columbia County, which cared for the dog after his ordeal.

"Because the case of abuse is still pending, we don't want to release his location," Bobrowich said.

With felony charges dropped, Scheir and Wheeler face misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and animal abandonment in the town of Athens court. If convicted, they face up to a year in local jail on the misdemeanors, but such cases are often plea-bargained down to fines, community service or probation with special conditions not to own an animal.

The reaction to the case from the community has been swift.

"I have a pile of letters as thick as a phone book from people urging prosecution," Wilhelm said.

Source: Times-Union - Aug 3, 2006
Update posted on Aug 3, 2006 - 12:15PM

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References

	Times-Union - May 2, 2006
	Daily Freeman - May 13, 2006
	Daily Freeman - Nov 3, 2006

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Dog's throat cutAthens, NY (US)

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Dog's throat cut
Athens, NY (US)