Sep 12, 2007 9:32 pm US/Mountain
Pet Dog Eats Dead Pet Dog, Woman Charged
by Raj Chohan
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) ―
-
-
Neeko survived only because he ate the dead animal's carcass.
CBS
An Aurora pet owner faces felony charges of animal cruelty after two dogs were found abandoned without food and water for more than two months over the summer.
Kristy Knecht is accused of abandoning and starving her two dogs and leaving them without food and water for weeks at a time. One dog starved to death. The other dog, Neeko, survived only because he ate the dead animal's carcass.
Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers made the decision to charge Knecht with two felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals.
"It has to rise to a fairly significant level before it becomes a felony," Chambers said. "A felony is knowingly torturing a dog, needlessly mutilating a dog, or needlessly killing a dog."
Neighbor Tony D'Amico said he doesn't feel sorry for Knecht, who lives across the street. Instead, his sympathy goes to the pets who endured such heartbreaking neglect.
"She could have called any one of us," D'Amico said. "We could have gone over to feed the dogs. She didn't. Whatever she's got coming to her is well deserved."
Other neighbors wondered why Knecht even had the dogs.
"It's sad with everything that's going on with animals. I don't understand why people get pets and don't want to take are of them," neighbor Nathan Scott said.
Instead of arresting her outright, Knecht is going to get a summons asking her to appear in court to face the charges, if she fails to show up, the district attorney's office is going to get an arrest warrant.
Knecht could get up to 36 months in jail if she's convicted.
Neeko was being treated at the Alameda East Veterinary Hospital. His medicals bills are expected to run over $10,000 dollars and his recovery could take months.
(© MMVII CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Visit The Pets/Animals Section
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments