David Aristide, 62, was found guilty last week of seven counts of animal cruelty and two related charges after a six-day jury trial in Dedham Superior Court. He was acquitted of five additional counts of animal cruelty.
Judge Raymond Brassard has ordered Aristide to undergo a psychological evaluation before his sentencing March 29.
Aristide, who grew up in Quincy, was arrested in September 2014. A neighbor’s complaint about barking dogs led police to discover several animals “caked in dirt and feces” in the basement of a Kidder Street duplex that had fallen into such disrepair that it was later condemned, according to a police report.
A neighbor told police that Aristide did not live in the house, which had several visible holes through the exterior walls, and only visited every other day to let the dogs out.
Police later returned to the house with a warrant and removed six dogs from the home. Aristide was arrested that afternoon when he showed up at police headquarters with five more dogs, which were also seized.
At Aristide’s arraignment in district court, his lawyer insisted his client had been devoted to the dogs and stopped by daily to feed them, walk them and change pine shavings on the basement floor.
Aristide later told The Patriot Ledger that he had bred the dogs – a cross between a Doberman and a poodle that he called a “dobadoodle” – and had planned to sell them online.
Under Massachusetts law, defendants convicted of animal cruelty can face up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Brassard released Aristide while he is awaiting sentencing and prohibited him from possessing animals or going near any animal shelters.
(Wicked Local - Feb 18, 2016)
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