Judge John Payne could have given Freddie Guy a $10,000 bond. Instead, he let the accused Chihuahua killer walk for $500.

MASSACHUSETTS -- Freddie Guy, 66, of Springfield, on Thursday denied a charge of animal cruelty in Springfield District Court in a case in which animal welfare authorities say his neighbor's Chihuahua suffered a fatal BB gun shot.

Bail was set at $500 cash for Guy, of 370 Stapleton Road, by Judge John Payne. It is the same bail amount he posted after his arrest.

Assistant District Attorney Cary Szafranski asked Payne to set bail at $10,000 citing the seriousness of the crime. Payne set the $500 bail and ordered Guy stay away from the owner of the dog. He told Szafranski to get the address and name of the dog's owner for the stay away order.

Guy, who is represented by Jeremy Powers, is accused of killing the dog on the front lawn of his Stapleton Road home.

Powers said his client had "essentially no record" and came to court on Thursday even though he knew the prosecution would ask for a higher bail.

Guy, who was in court with his wife, has worked all his life, Powers said. Powers said the case is based on one eyewitness.

The charge is a felony in Massachusetts and punishable by up to seven years in state prison, 2½ years in a county house of correction or a $5,000 fine.

It was originally reported that the dog had been beaten to death, possibly with a baseball bat, but Pam Peebles, executive director with the Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Adoption and Control Center, said a preliminary autopsy showed the dog had been shot and killed with a BB gun.



Freddie Guy,left appears in Hampden District Court Thursday morning ,
as he answers to charges in connection to the killing of a neighbors dog
 on his  front lawn, Tuesday. His Atty. Jaremy Powers is at right.
(MARK M.MURRAY / THE REPUBLICAN)

Police were called to the scene by a neighbor who reported seeing a man abusing a small dog in the front lawn. When police arrived, the man had driven off, but the body of the dog, a 4-pound male Chihuahua, was found lying on the front lawn of Guy's residence.

The neighbor told police she was tending to her children across the street when she heard a dog yelping in pain. She told police she had seen Guy leaving his garage carrying some type of object and walking toward two dogs that were on his lawn barking.

Police returned to the home at about 2:30 p.m. and found Guy had returned home. He was taken into custody without incident, police spokesman Sgt. John Delaney said.

The body was wrapped in a blanket and carried from the scene by staff with the Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center.

Peebles said early indications were that the dog had been beaten. The preliminary autopsy was done Tuesday afternoon and showed a puncture wound in the dog's side and a small metal projectile in one of its lungs.

The dog was traced back to a residence on Garvey Drive, one block over from Stapleton Road, Delaney said. He did not release the owner's name.

(MassLive - Nov 12, 2015)

Earlier:

• Springfield police investigate reported baseball bat beating death of dog