HILL – A man charged with an animal cruelty for shooting and killing his neighbor's 6-pound dog last month waived arraignment on the charge in Franklin District Court yesterday.
Court officials said no trial date has yet been set for Michael Donato, 52, of Currier Hill Road, who is charged with a misdemeanor complaint of cruelty to animals. He is charged with shooting, Penny, a Jack Rusell-rat terrier mix after she wandered on to his property Dec. 14.
Donato turned himself in to Hill police on Dec. 19 after a warrant had been issued for his arrest on the charge and has been free on $5,000 bail since that time. The misdemeanor complaint carries a maximum sentence of up to 12 months in jail and a fine of $2,000.
Penny's owners, Kyle and Kirsten MacArthur of Currier Hill Road, said they were able to retrieve Penny's body from police after it was found stuffed in a salt bag in the back of Donato's pickup truck in Bristol, where Donato had been arrested for driving while intoxicated by Bristol police Dec. 14.
Kyle MacArthur said he followed Donato's pickup truck after having a conversation with him about Penny that led him to believe that his dog had been injured. He had called police, who stopped Donato in Bristol, to tell them that he believed that Donato was intoxicated and that his dog was in the back of the pickup truck.
Donato is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 12 in Plymouth District Court on the DWI charge.
Merrimack County Attorney Daniel I. St. Hilaire, who has been working with Hill Police on the case, said Donato had previously complained to police about the dog coming on to his property and scaring his chickens.
Kirsten MacArthur said she wishes investigators had looked at pictures they took of Penny before they buried her before settling on the misdemeanor level charge. A felony complaint of animal cruelty carries a maximum state prison sentence of 3½ to 7 years and a fine of up to $4,000.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has written to St. Hilaire, asking that Donato be banned for life from owning or harboring animals and that he serve jail time if he is found guilty of the charge.
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Reference:unionleader
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