WLUK-TV reports 19-year-old Bryan Hutcherson has a preliminary hearing on Thursday on a felony charge of mistreatment of animals.
Instead of taking the dog to the shelter or simply turning it loose to fend for itself, he and his girlfriend chose to leave the dog locked in a cage while slowly starving to death.
When the little dog was near death, Hutcherson took him outside and dumped him on the sidewalk to die then went back inside the house.
District Attorney Christian Gossett's office has received more than 5,000 emails from as far away as Australia, including 500 a day to the district attorney himself, and hundreds of letters about the animal named "Snoop."
The dog was found dead a little over two weeks ago on the street.
Hutcherson's public defender did not immediately return a call Wednesday from The Associated Press seeking comment.
(News8000 - May 15, 2011)
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