Wisconsin: Bryan Hutcherson charged after starving pit bull to death

Nineteen-year-old Bryan Hutcherson told the cops it was just "too stressful and costing too much money" to feed his pit bull pup, so he left the poor, starving animal on an Oshkosh street to die.

Now he faces the prospect of up to three and half years behind bars. Thank you, Wisconsin.

Hutcherson and his girlfriend kept the pup, named "Snoop," in a tiny steel cage in their living room, and apparently didn't feed the animal anything for a month.

But instead of giving "Snoop" up for adoption and a chance at finding a home where someone might actually love the dog and care for it like a decent human being, they just watched the dog wither away.

When it was finally too sick to move, Hutcherson carried the dog outside and dumped him on the sidewalk to die.

Police found the dog on March 31. Here's what they saw:

Police tracked down Hutcherson and his girlfriend the next day. They admitted the dog was theirs, and Hutcherson was slapped with felony charges on April 4.

In short order, the Winnebago County DA's office was deluged with phone calls and emails from irate animal lovers, and a Facebook memorial page to "Snoop" was launched.

Hutcherson makes his first court appearance tomorrow. If convicted and sentenced to time behind bars, he'll be housed and fed by Wisconsin taxpayers better than he treated his own dog.

(City Pages - April 13, 2011)