PENNSYLVANIA -- A Berwick Township man who allegedly shot and killed a beagle that ran into his yard had the criminal count he faced set aside Jan. 7 in Adams County court.
Brian R. Kauffman, 22, was admitted to the county's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program, a probationary program intended for first-time offenders of nonviolent crimes.
If Kauffman successfully completes a 24-month term in the program, the animal-cruelty charge he faced for the March 2012 incident will be erased from his record.
[How is this fair? You don't kill any more animals and after two years, it's erased from your record AS IF IT HAD NEVER HAPPENED? How is that justice???!]
Prosecutors said their review of the case indicates Kauffman is eligible for the program, and that the beagle's owners were agreeable to his entering ARD.
The animal-cruelty count with which Kauffman had been charged is first-degree misdemeanor charge, carrying a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison.
According to court documents, a neighbor of Kauffman's told authorities he heard three gunshots at about 11 a.m. March 27, 2012 and when he looked out of the window, he saw Kauffman grabbing a dead Beagle by its tail, and throwing it over a barbed-wire fence.
Kauffman jumped over the fence, and continued to throw the dead Beagle up the hill, the neighbor said.
When the neighbor confronted Kauffman , Kauffman allegedly admitted to shooting the Beagle, saying the dog was running loose and chasing deer, and he had previously warned the dog's owners, court documents indicate.
Kauffman also told the neighbor he would not notify the dog's keepers, and he intended to bury the dog in the backyard.
When the neighbor said he was contacting the police, and Kauffman asked, "Are you going to rat me out?" court documents indicate.
Adams County SPCA Humane Officer Abigail Avery said the dog, who was named Mac, had been dropped off in the area about three months prior, and lived with a neighboring family.
"This shouldn't have happened," Avery said previously. "He knew where the dog belonged. The dog may have been loose, but I have not come across too many vicious beagles in my career."
(The Evening Sun - Jan 13, 2013)
