A Blaine man will spend two years on probation for intentionally treating a Chihuahua in a cruel manner, resulting in the dog’s death.
David W. Anderson, 48, pleaded no contest Monday in Eau Claire County Court to a felony count of mistreatment of animals.
As conditions of probation, Judge Paul Lenz ordered Anderson to pay $558 in restitution, have no contact with the dog’s owner and undergo any counseling, treatment or programming recommended by his probation agent.
“I had to put him down as a result of the injuries he received from David Anderson,” the owner told Lenz.
“I didn’t do anything without him,” she said of her dog, Virgil. “He went everywhere I did. He was never left alone at all.”
Virgil was just a small Chihuahua, the victim said. “He never did anything wrong,” she said.
Lenz backed up the victim’s comments.
“What you did was, you took away this person’s companion,” the judge told Anderson.
According to the criminal complaint:
An Eau Claire woman met with police on Feb. 28 and told an officer she had been allowing Anderson to temporarily stay at her residence in the 2300 block of Golf Road. She said the night before she had fallen asleep but woke up around 12:30 a.m. Anderson was in a bad mood, so she left the residence.
At about 1:45 a.m., the woman said she received a text message from Anderson indicating something was wrong with Virgil, her 7-year-old Chihuahua. She immediately returned home and found the dog lying on the living room floor almost lifeless.
She told the officer she noticed a bump on the dog’s head, and Anderson told her the dog had fallen off the couch.
A short time later, she took the dog to Oakwood Hills Animal Hospital, where X-rays revealed Virgil had a skull fracture — an injury not consistent with the animal falling off a couch onto a carpeted floor. The veterinarian said there was nothing more to do other than to euthanize the animal. He was euthanized that day.
Five weeks earlier, the woman returned home from work and noticed the dog was having difficulty jumping onto the couch, something it had never had trouble doing before. She also noticed blood in the animal’s left eye.
On Feb. 29, the woman reported to police that Anderson had sent her unwanted messages. In one he called her a “rat” for contacting police about the dog.