Man to Stand Trial in Death of Dog
www.mlive.com
January 20, 2006, GRASS LAKE, MICHIGAN -- A Grass Lake Township man will stand trial for allegedly starving a dog to death.
District Judge Joseph Filip bound David A. Lentz over to Circuit Court on a felony animal cruelty charge Thursday.
A veterinarian, Dr. Kerry McKinney, testified a necropsy on the pit bull-mix dog indicated it its stomach contained sticks and stones.
A neighbor reported the dead dog on Jan. 3.
Animal Control Officer Mark Abbott said the dog was chained to its house in Lentz' front yard and apparently had been dead for a few days.
"It was extremely emaciated, its ribs sticking out, eyes sunken in," Abbott testified.
He said Lentz, 62, claimed the dog died six to eight weeks before and he had not gotten around to burying it. Lentz also said he fed the dog daily, Abbott said, adding that he found a bag of dog food in the house.
Under cross examination by defense attorney Jerry Engle, Abbott said Lentz had a healthy cat in his Grey Tower Road home, as well as parakeets that appeared healthy.
When Abbott returned to the property to make an arrest, Lentz insisted on feeding and watering his cat before he was taken away, Abbott said.
Lentz also told Abbott the dog was a stray that he chained it to keep it out of the road.
