The case of 22-year-old Aaron A. Bellor is to face a settlement conference before Bay County District Judge Dawn A. Klida at 2 p.m. on Friday, March 21. The hearing is not open to the public and is limited to the prosecution and defense attorney Edward M. Czuprynski assessing the current status of the matter.
Bellor is charged with one count of torturing or killing an animal, a four-year felony. Police have said Bellor on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 22, spilled boiling water on a schnauzer named Sassy, then took her from his Bay City home to rural Portsmouth Township, where he twice ran her over, killing her.
At his arraignment in February, Bellor twice stated that the dog was his own. However, former Bay City resident James Westergard has said he owned Sassy and gave her to Bellor’s girlfriend a few days before he moved to Arizona.
Bangor Township resident Cindy Anderson says news of the dog’s grisly death led her to take action. She printed out pages of 32 slots with the intro:
“We, the undersigned residents and voters of Bay County, support the maximum punishment for Aaron Bellor, who tortured and murdered an innocent and defenseless dog. There is absolutely NO reasoning for such a violent and vicious act.”
A day or so later, Anderson and friends Barb Miller and Janet Neveau took the petitions to numerous businesses and residences and, in the next couple of weeks, garnered 836 signatures.
“What really got me going on this, was after I read the article … I would have nightmares,” said Anderson, who has three small dogs and a cat herself. “I would wake up in the middle of the night and I couldn’t get that dog off my mind, and that’s what started the whole thing. I couldn’t live with just nothing happening; I had to do something.”
Anderson said she planned to drop off the stack of petitions to the Bay County Prosecutor’s Office. Just as important to her as Bellor being punished if convicted is that her actions deter others from similar acts.
“If we can just help anybody from committing anything that would abuse animals, if just a few people got it through their heads that they can’t do it, that’s our main goal,” she said. “That’s the major thing that we’re looking for.”
Westergard on Feb. 21 created a Facebook group dubbed “Justice For Sassy!” As of Wednesday, March 19, the group comprises 331 members.
According to court records, Bellor called Bay County Animal Control two days after Sassy’s death to report what he’d done. He told a Bay County Sheriff’s detective that he accidentally spilled the boiling water on Sassy, then panicked and took her to Portsmouth Township after clumps of her hair started falling out.
He said he initially let Sassy out of his vehicle, intending to let her freeze to death, court records show. Bellor told the detective he then reconsidered and called Sassy back over toward him, then drove over her.
Bellor is free on a personal recognizance bond.
Czuprynski has said he is confident his client will be exonerated.
As of March 19, there is no plea offer contained in court records.
(MLive - March 22, 2014 )
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