BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. – The man accused of torturing a Bedford County family’s dog has been found guilty.
Michael Elliot was charged with animal cruelty after reportedly tying his neighbors’ dog, Winter, to a tree and shooting it with a BB gun.
[Bedford County couple mourning the loss of their dog after neighbor tortured it]
“With multiple ties of ropes around the tree and one rope around her neck. She could not even, she was gasping for breath. Her eye was almost out of the socket. And the other ear had been penetrated by a BB gun, is what the officer told me when he went over there,” said owner Dennis Evans in an earlier interview with 10 News.
Elliot said on the stand Friday he was acting in defense after the dog allegedly killed his cat.
Winter’s vet testified that she had two BB pellets in her orbital socket, along with a crushed larynx from being tied tightly to a tree with rope.
After hearing testimony from several other witnesses, the judge announced a guilty verdict.
“No matter what happened to Mr. Elliot going and grabbing Winter, you can’t go after a dog and treat it like he did. So I thought the verdict was appropriate,” Chris Dolen, Chief Asst. of the Commonwealth’s Attorney said.
Elliot’s sentencing date is set for Sept. 1 at 1:30 p.m.
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