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WEST VALLEY CITY — A man has been charged with animal torture, a third degree felony, after allegedly striking his dog repeatedly, injuring the animal to the point of requiring euthanasia.
According to charges filed Thursday in 3rd District Court, the man's sister-in-law, who also resides at the home of the man and his wife, told police that she arrived home on April 16 and found the man holding down his puppy, Marley, with one hand while punching the puppy with the other. The woman asked the man what he was doing and he replied that the puppy deserved to be hit for chewing on a chair.
The woman told police that later that evening she was in her bedroom and heard the man enter the living room, begin hitting the puppy again and throwing the dog into its kennel.
The man's wife told police that the man called her on April 17 and told her the puppy couldn't move its back legs. After returning home the couple took the puppy to a veterinarian and were told the dog's condition was poor. The couple then took the dog to a clinic where the puppy was euthanized, the charges state.
The veterinarian told police the puppy suffered from spinal injuries as a result of abuse.
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