Man guilty of punching dog

Boxer-shepherd mix ate takeout food that couple left in car

An “angry” 23-year-old man repeatedly punched a dog for eating his takeout Haitian food, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Mercedes, a boxer-shepherd mix, had been left alone with the Caribbean cuisine in a car parked outside Carlingwood Mall on Feb. 26.

A witness testified she saw an agitated Stepha Franklin and his then-girlfriend run by in the parking lot, saying, “I hope she didn’t.” Moments later, Alison Stewart said she was startled by yelps of pain.

“Initially, I thought it was a baby. Then I realized it was a dog sound,” she said.

Though she didn’t actually see the dog, Stewart testified she saw Franklin pumping his closed fist several times into the open front door of an old model red car as the alarming yelps rang out.

A young woman was crying, telling him, “Stop doing that,” and, “Why are you doing that?” she recalled.

Stewart wrote down the car’s licence plate and called the Ottawa Humane Society.

“Obviously, there was an animal that was hurting,” she said.

Ontario Justice Bruce Frazer dismissed the testimony of Franklin’s then-girlfriend, who denied that he did anything but grab Mercedes by the collar, rub her nose in the mess of food and “maybe” hit her on the bum. Her testimony was “hesitant,” Frazer said, as she described Franklin’s “blown-out-of-proportion” reaction to a wasted meal.

“Mr. Franklin was angry. He was loud and yelling. And the court finds that he was also violent to the dog,” Frazer said.

Franklin has a history of violent convictions, including assaulting his former girlfriend.

“I am not persuaded that their relationship is over,” Frazer said. “Perhaps old allegiances die hard.”

Franklin is serving a 45day sentence for assaulting a man.

He will be sentenced for causing unnecessary pain and suffering to Mercedes on Friday.