PennyQuilts
02-19-2010, 06:59 AM
From the Tulsa World:
Broken Arrow man found guilty in dog-hanging case
by: BILL BRAUN World Staff Writer
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Tulsa County jurors found a Broken Arrow man guilty Thursday of an animal-cruelty charge involving an allegation that he used a rope to hang a dog on his property.
George Henry Roberts, 61, was fined $3,500 but was sentenced to no time in jail or prison upon being convicted of the felony offense.
Associate District Judge Dana Kuehn instructed jurors that the crime was punishable by up to five years in prison or up to one year in jail and/or up to a $5,000 fine.
A prosecutor asserted that Roberts used a rope to hang a black Labrador mixed-breed dog by its neck from a tree, killing the animal, outside his residence in the 13100 block of South 125th East Avenue on May 24, 2008.
Reports indicate that the dog, named George, was a stray who had wandered into the neighborhood months earlier and had been adopted by a family.
Roberts “didn’t like dogs, clearly,” Assistant District Attorney Joy Mohorovicic said. He was mad about dogs going onto his property and was going to “make an example” to warn neighbors to keep their dogs off his property, Mohorovicic said in a closing argument.
Witnesses testified that the Labrador-mix was friendly, she said.
Roberts indicated that he grabbed the dog on his property, tied a rope to a tree and put the loop of the rope around the dog’s neck.
He said the dog was alive when he walked away to look for a water bowl and that when he returned he found that the dog was dead.
Defense lawyer James Linger said the dog likely tried to get away and “probably accidentally strangled itself.”
Roberts said he retied the dog with its head in the air so that its owner could find it.
Linger said that while that action was strange, “it’s not animal cruelty to hang a dog that is already dead.”
Roberts was free on bond while awaiting a resolution of his case.
(emphasis added)
Anyone who would do that to a dog - a friendly dog!! - ought to sit in jail, IMO. Disgusting. It is not the dog's fault that it was wandering loose. What a horrible man.
Broken Arrow man found guilty in dog-hanging case
by: BILL BRAUN World Staff Writer
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Tulsa County jurors found a Broken Arrow man guilty Thursday of an animal-cruelty charge involving an allegation that he used a rope to hang a dog on his property.
George Henry Roberts, 61, was fined $3,500 but was sentenced to no time in jail or prison upon being convicted of the felony offense.
Associate District Judge Dana Kuehn instructed jurors that the crime was punishable by up to five years in prison or up to one year in jail and/or up to a $5,000 fine.
A prosecutor asserted that Roberts used a rope to hang a black Labrador mixed-breed dog by its neck from a tree, killing the animal, outside his residence in the 13100 block of South 125th East Avenue on May 24, 2008.
Reports indicate that the dog, named George, was a stray who had wandered into the neighborhood months earlier and had been adopted by a family.
Roberts “didn’t like dogs, clearly,” Assistant District Attorney Joy Mohorovicic said. He was mad about dogs going onto his property and was going to “make an example” to warn neighbors to keep their dogs off his property, Mohorovicic said in a closing argument.
Witnesses testified that the Labrador-mix was friendly, she said.
Roberts indicated that he grabbed the dog on his property, tied a rope to a tree and put the loop of the rope around the dog’s neck.
He said the dog was alive when he walked away to look for a water bowl and that when he returned he found that the dog was dead.
Defense lawyer James Linger said the dog likely tried to get away and “probably accidentally strangled itself.”
Roberts said he retied the dog with its head in the air so that its owner could find it.
Linger said that while that action was strange, “it’s not animal cruelty to hang a dog that is already dead.”
Roberts was free on bond while awaiting a resolution of his case.
(emphasis added)
Anyone who would do that to a dog - a friendly dog!! - ought to sit in jail, IMO. Disgusting. It is not the dog's fault that it was wandering loose. What a horrible man.