Twenty-year-old Gerald Walker Jr., of Wilkinsburg, was convicted of misdemeanor animal cruelty by a Pittsburgh judge on Thursday after a non-jury trial. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation and must pay a $1,000 fine.
Walker is also barred from owning or taking care of any animals.
Western Pennsylvania Humane Society police officer Ed Mitchell and Pittsburgh police seized the dog in January after receiving a tip from a maintenance worker that the dog was getting thin.
Veterinarians say the dog had a bowel obstruction that included bits of cloth and plastic [that it had eaten because it was starving to death]. The 3-year-old dog now weighs 43 pounds.
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| Gerald's defense is that he "couldn't afford" to feed his dog. Doesn't look like baby boy Gerald missed any meals... |
Walker's attorney says his client "couldn't always afford food for the dog".
This attorney needs to get a bonus from his client for actually have the conjones to say this to the judge... he couldn't always afford food for the dog... All the judge had to do was take a look at his client, Defendant Gerald Walker Jr., and see that that tub of lard NEVER FORGOT TO FEED HIMSELF! Maybe if he weren't eating all the food he might've had some left over to feed his skeletal dog.
Meanwhile, his animal abuser enabling mommy, Tia Matthews, is in legal trouble herself after threatening a witness.
Matthews declined to comment as she left the courtroom after her hearing. She told Pittsburgh's Action News 4, "You all want to edit everything that I say," and described her charges as "bogus."
(Waco Tribune - Aug 5, 2016)
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