Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Dog tied to SUV, dragged

Dog tied to SUV, dragged
Bad Axe, MI (US)

Incident Date: Monday, Jul 31, 2006
County: Huron
Local Map: available
Disposition: Acquitted

Person of Interest: James M. Leppek

Case Updates: 5 update(s) available

Case ID: 9588

Classification: Vehicular

Animal: dog (non pit-bull)

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Animal was offleash or loose

The owner of the yellow lab mix puppy whose paw pads were worn off when he was dragged behind an SUV on July 31 didn't even know her dog had been injured until she read about it in a local newspaper.

''All we knew was that he had run away,'' said the owner, who asked that The Times not publish her name.

But after proving she was the owner of the dog, 9-month-old Chopper, she and her three children were able to visit him at the Bad Axe Animal Medical Clinic, where the dog was treated.

The dog is home now and recovering nicely, she said.

''He's back to normal, jumping and running and licking the kids,'' she said. ''He's a very good dog.''

The pads on Chopper's feet were worn off in the incident, requiring skin grafts, twice-daily soakings, and a round of antibiotics, his owner said.

James M. Leppek, the 46-year-old Bad Axe man charged with animal torture in the incident, is scheduled for a preliminary exam on Aug 31 in District Court in Bad Axe.

Leppek's attorney, David B. Herrington, of Bad Axe, called the animal abuse charges ''ill-conceived and misguided.''

Herrington said the dog had been following Leppek and his son around and that Leppek, who didn't know the dog, was ''leading'' it away from his home.

''He did tie the dog to his vehicle and went at a very low rate of speed,'' Herrington said. ''He vehemently denies that he dragged the dog in any manner.''

But the dog's owner said she just doesn't believe those claims.

''From his injuries, you can tell he was being dragged for a while,'' she said. ''He wasn't just running beside the truck.''

Workers at the Bad Axe animal clinic declined to comment on the dog's injuries or treatment because of the pending court case.

A witness, 16-year-old Dennis B. Smith, saw the dog tied to the back of a GMC Jimmy sport-utility-vehicle and being dragged around the corner of McKenzie and Barrie roads, according to information from the Huron County Sheriff's Department.

Smith watched as Leppek then stopped the vehicle, released the dog and put him in a ditch, police said.

As Smith and his mother, Elizabeth A. Smith, were tending to the injured dog, Leppek returned to the scene, police said. Elizabeth Smith then followed Leppek to a home at 1151 McKenzie Road, police said.

Herrington said Leppek did not call police to report the dog because ''the police won't pick up stray dogs.'' And there is not an animal control agency in Huron County.

When asked about the dog's injuries, Herrington said, ''It is possible that the dog was resisting at some point, but Mr. Leppek in no way intended to drag the dog or injure the dog.''

Any injuries the dog sustained were ''not intentional'' and ''regrettable,'' Herrington said.

The dog's owner said Chopper had been tied up outside near his dog house. She came home from work to find that he had torn his line, pulled himself loose and taken off.

When she read the newspaper article about the dog that had been injured, ''I sat in the car reading the article in the paper bawling my eyes out. ... It was very upsetting.''

The dog's owner then called the animal clinic and was told she would have to prove she was the owner.

When Chopper ran away, his owner said, he had on a black collar and tags. When he was picked up he had on a red collar and no tags, she said.

After producing Chopper's shot records and photographs of the dog with her children, the family was able to reunite with the dog - who was indeed Chopper - at the clinic.

''I can't understand why a person would do that to a dog, even if it was a stray,'' the owner said. ''(Leppek) had options, things he could have done. ... In my heart I want to believe that he did it not to be mean ... but I just can't.''

Case Updates

Police said he did it; witnesses said he did it; even the defendant said he did it.

But in the end, Huron County prosecutors failed to convince a jury that a 47-year-old Bad Axe man maliciously injured a Labrador retriever puppy when he tethered it to the trailer hitch of his sport utility vehicle and dragged it down the road.

The jury delivered a verdict of innocent Wednesday in an animal cruelty case against James J. Leppek. Authorities said jurors felt Leppek was not culpable because he intended no harm.

Leppek has said all along he thought the dog could keep pace as the GMC Jimmy traveled along McKenzie near South Barrie in Colfax Township on July 31. He has said he only meant to lure the pup away from his home to protect his cats and chickens.

In January, Circuit Court Judge M. Richard Knoblock dismissed a felony charge of animal torture. Knoblock said that although the dog, Chopper, suffered shredded pads on his paws, the severity of his injuries did not satisfy the legal standard of killing, mutilating, maiming or disfiguring required to pursue a felony animal torture case.

Huron County Prosecutor Mark J. Gaertner answered the judge's ruling by filing a new misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty that could land Leppek behind bars for 93 days.

Chopper's owner, Kimberly Galloway, has said Chopper was secure in the yard of her home, on South Thomas near McKenzie, about two miles from Leppek's home, the day the incident occurred, the Huron Daily Tribune reported.

While the Galloway family was away, Chopper broke free from his cable, followed Leppek home and would not leave.

Chopper, a Christmas gift for the three Galloway children, spent seven days recovering from his injuries at the Bad Axe Animal Medical Clinic before veterinarians returned him to his family.

Source: The Saginaw News - March 16, 2007
Update posted on Mar 25, 2007 - 5:29AM

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47-year-old Bad Axe man charged with animal cruelty left the Huron County District Courtroom Wednesday afternoon he was teary-eyed after the jury acquitted him.

James Leppek was facing up to 93 days in jail after the Huron County Prosecutor�s Office claimed Leppek did not give adequate care and/or that Leppek was negligent when he allowed a stray yellow Labrador dog to suffer pain or become injured after he tied the dog with a rope to his vehicle and led the animal down the roadway from his home July 31.

Leppek took the witness stand late Tuesday evening testifying he did tie the dog to the trailer hitch of his GMC Jimmy attempting to led the animal away from his home after the dog began chasing one of his cats and he was worried the animal would get in to his chickens.

Leppek�s attorney, David B. Herrington, argued Wednesday that while his client didn�t dispute he tied the animal to his vehicle and led it down the road, other witness statements were inconsistent.

Dennis Smith testified in September that Leppek dragged the dog for 100 feet and on Tuesday he testified Leppek dragged the dog for 40 feet, 20 feet while the dog was keeping up and 20 feet while the dog was being dragged about 10 to 15 mph.

Leppek told the jury the dog was in fact keeping up with his vehicle as he traveled 5 mph, but as he rounded the corner from McKenzie Road onto Barrie Road the dog �lagged behind� the vehicle and began resisting �putting the brakes on� with his paws stretched out.

�I don�t think its unreasonable the dog was injured the last 10 feet,� said Herrington who told the jury before they deliberated Wednesday that the �guts of the case were the injuries to the (dog�s) paws� and that his client did not intend to harm the animal.

�Mr. Herrington takes issue with every issue of the case,� said Chief Assistant Prosecutor Stephen J. Allen to the jury. �If you listen to Mr. Herrington, his client hasn�t done anything wrong.

�How often do you see someone dragging a dog down the road, taking it for a walk on one of the hottest days of the year?� Allen also pointed out Leppek claimed he didn�t know the animal was injured when he took the rope off the dog�s collar. But when the dog showed up just minutes later at Elizabeth Smith�s home on Barrie Road, its paws were bleeding and the dog was limping.

The jury, made up of four women and two men, deliberated for 45 minutes March 14 afternoon before returning with a verdict.

Allen said Thursday morning that he respects the jury�s verdict in the case but was disappointed other evidence, including a photo of blood on the pavement where the dog was untied, wasn�t admitted during the trial because he didn�t have anything to tie that evidence into the case for the jury.

Herrington said the jury�s verdict shows there are �clearly two sides to every story.

�The charge against my client was ill-advised and misguided. Everyone jumped to conclusions on the very on-set of this case. They didn�t take sufficient time to reflect on what the facts were in this case,� Herrington said. �My client didn�t intend to do anything wrong. He feels bad about what happened. But given the circumstances, he did what he did without improper intent.�

Prior to facing the misdemeanor charge, Leppek was charged in August with felony animal torture for dragging the dog. During a hearing in December Huron County Circuit Court Judge M. Richard Knoblock dismissed the felony charge, leaving the door open for the Huron County Prosecutor�s Office to charge Leppek with a misdemeanor or not charging him at all.

Police were first notified about the incident involving the dog after Elizabeth Smith called the Huron County Sheriff's Office July 31, reporting her son, Dennis, observed a man dragging the dog on a rope tied to the trailer hitch of a GMC Jimmy as it drove down McKenzie Road to Barrie Road.

The dog was found by police at Smith�s home and transported to the sheriff's office. The animal was then taken to Bad Axe Animal Medical Clinic on Aug. 1 for treatment of injuries to the pads on his paws.

The animal was treated at the clinic for seven days and later returned to his owner Kimberly Galloway. The dog, known as Chopper, was killed in October after being hit by a car.

Source: Huron Daily Tribune - March 16, 2007
Update posted on Mar 25, 2007 - 5:27AM

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He was cleared of felony charges, but now a Bad Axe man could face a misdemeanor charge in an animal cruelty case here.

Huron County Prosecutor Mark J. Gaertner said he will file cruelty to animal charges against James J. Leppek.

In December, Leppek, 46, admitted he tethered Chopper, a stray Labrador retriever pup, to the trailer hitch of his GMC Jimmy before driving the sport utility vehicle on McKenzie near Barrie in Colfax Township on July 31.

However, when Leppek's attorney, David B. Herrington, argued at a Dec. 4 preliminary hearing that Leppek drove slowly enough that the animal was able to keep pace with the SUV, Huron County Circuit Judge M. Richard Knoblock dismissed felony charges against Leppek, Saginaw News records show.

Leppek claimed he only was trying to lure the pup away from Leppek's home.

Although Chopper suffered serious scrapes to his paws, Knoblock said the severity of the injuries did not satisfy the legal standard of killing, mutilating, maiming or disfiguring that is required to pursue a felony animal torture case.

The incident occurred after Chopper broke free from his cable in his own backyard, followed Leppek home and would not leave, records show.

Chopper, a Christmas gift for three Bad Axe youngsters, spent several days recovering from his injuries at the Bad Axe Animal Medical Clinic before veterinarians returned him to his family.

A conviction could lead to a sentence of up to 93 days in jail.

Source: The Saginaw News - Jan 14, 2007
Update posted on Jan 14, 2007 - 4:28PM

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Animal torture charges against James M. Leppek of Bad Axe were recently dismissed in Huron County Circuit Court and Prosecutor Mark J. Gaertner said he will decide this week whether to charge Leppek with animal cruelty, a misdemeanor.

Judge M. Richard Knoblock ruled last week that, based on transcripts from an evidence hearing, there was not enough evidence to try Leppek for the crime of animal torture.

Leppek, 47, faced the felony charges after a witness told police he saw a dog being dragged behind Leppek's GMC Jimmy sport-utility vehicle. The dog was allegedly tied to the car and dragged about 75 feet near McKenzie and Barrie roads in Colfax Township, the witness said.

The dog, a 9-month-old yellow lab mix, was treated after the incident for bloody and damaged paw pads and for pain, according to testimony by Dr. Rhoda Short of the Bad Axe Veterinary Clinic, who treated the dog. She said the dog was kept at the clinic for about one week during his treatment.

Knoblock's decision to drop charges went against a ruling made by District Judge Karl E. Kraus, who found probable cause, or reasonable belief, that Leppek had committed the crime.

A circuit judge has the right to review a district judge's decision if requested by the defendant.

Under Michigan sentencing guidelines, felony animal torture charges are punishable by up to four years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, up to 500 hours of community service, or any combination of the three.

Misdemeanor animal cruelty charges are punishable by up to 93 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, up to 200 hours of community service or any combination of the three.

Gaertner said that if convicted, Leppek would not have gone to prison because it would have been his first felony charge.

David B. Herrington, Leppek's Bad Axe-based attorney, has maintained that Leppek never intended to torture the dog. Herrington argued that Leppek tied the dog, a runaway, to the back of his truck to lead it away from his home.

Leppek also testified that the dog had been hanging around his home for about a day and was chasing his cats.

Leppek was not dragging the dog, Herrington argued, but was driving the truck at 5 mph, a speed the dog was able to keep up with.

There is no animal control agency in Huron County.

Source: The Bay City Times - Dec 11, 2006
Update posted on Dec 12, 2006 - 12:29PM

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County Circuit Court Judge M. Richard Knoblock dismissed the felony charge of animal torture facing a 46-year-old Bad Axe man accused of tying a golden lab puppy to the hitch of his vehicle and dragging it down the road.

Monday�s motion to quash the charge against James Leppek came following the preliminary examination in Huron County District Court on Sept. 5. The motion was filed by David B. Herrington, Leppek�s attorney.

Herrington was asking Knoblock to review the transcripts from the preliminary examination which led to the case being bound over to circuit court. Herrington told the court he felt the district court judge misstated what the evidence was. The felony charge against Leppek accused him of dragging the dog down McKenzie Road, injuring it, on July 31.

On Monday, Herrington didn�t deny his client tied the dog to the trailer hitch of his vehicle and drove slowly away from his home.

Herrington told Knoblock the dog was having no problem keeping up with the vehicle, and when Leppek observed the dog �putting on the brakes for a lack of a better term,� he stopped the vehicle and untied the dog.

�What's important is the dog was walking behind the vehicle,� said Herrington, denying there was any testimony during the preliminary examination that the dog fell over and was dragged down the road. "There was a misstatement by the (district) court which drew conclusions of malice."

Herrington also pointed out there was no evidence the dog suffered severe agony or anguish as described as an element in the animal torture charge.

Before Knoblock made his final decision, Huron County Prosecuting Attorney Mark J. Gaertner asked Knoblock to deny Herrington�s motion.

�The district court judge looked at the totality, the whole incident from beginning to end (in making his ruling to bind the case over),� said Gaertner, adding that when Leppek untied the dog he pushed the dog with his leg toward the roadside ditch.

Herrington noted that Leppek didn�t know the dog.

�We�re talking about a felony offense,� said Knoblock, who stated when he reviewed the testimony from the preliminary examination he found it showed Leppek drove at a very slow rate of speed and the dog was �not really dragged.� Knoblock added that the felony charge is for someone who killed, tortured, mutilated, maimed or disfigured an animal. And looking at the misdemeanor charge, he said someone could starve a dog to death and only face a misdemeanor charge, not a felony charge.

�What the defendant did was not nearly as severe as starving an animal to death,� Knoblock said. �We don�t have animal control in Huron County. You�re left up to your own devices to get rid of the dog. His choice wasn�t a good one, repulsive when you hear it.�

Knoblock went on to say he disagreed with the district court judge. Knoblock said he felt there wasn�t sufficient evidence the offense fit the felony charge in this case and that if the prosecutor had additional evidence he could recharge Leppek.

Gaertner said he was left with two options, to recharge the felony against Leppek if there were other evidence, or he can charge a lesser misdemeanor charge.

�There is no additional evidence for the felony animal torture charge.

Everything was presented at the preliminary examination, there are no other witnesses to present to the people other than those who already testified, including the vet who examined the dog,� Gaertner said. �I will be focusing on the misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty involving dogs, and I�m going to take another look and read the case law. I haven�t made a final decision about the misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty just yet.

�This week I�m focusing on a drug and child abuse cases. When I�m done with those I will make a decision in this case.�

Police were first notified about the incident involving the dog after witnesses called the Huron County Sheriff�s Office reporting they observed a man dragging the dog on a rope tied to the trailer hitch of a GMC Jimmy as it drove down McKenzie Road to Barrie Road.

The dog was found by police at a nearby home and transported to the sheriff's office. The animal was then taken to Bad Axe Animal Medical Clinic for treatment of injuries to the pads on his paws. The animal was treated and later returned to his owner. The owner testified during the preliminary examination in September that the dog was tied up outside and broke free, eventually ending up at Leppek�s home nearby the day the incident occurred.

Source: Huron Daily Tribune - Dec 5, 2006
Update posted on Dec 5, 2006 - 10:57PM

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Dog tied to SUV, draggedBad Axe, MI (US)

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Dog tied to SUV, dragged
Bad Axe, MI (US)