Man gets probation in dog abuse case; dog euthanized
Joshua Yates left a miniature pinscher named Bowser in dire shape.
The 6-year-old dog weighed 13 pounds and belonged to Amanda Yatesdemario, Joshua's wife.
“I still have nightmares for how he looked when I came home,” Yates-demario said of the February incident that ended in Bowser being euthanized.
In late October, Yates, 26, was convicted of a single count of cruelty to companion animals, a fifth-degree felony, at his trial in Richland County Common Pleas Court.
He received three years of probation at his sentencing hearing Monday afternoon. Common Pleas Judge Phil Naumoff said he had to follow sentencing guidelines in not giving Yates a prison term.
The judge said Yates had no prior record and, according to a pre-sentence investigation, was at low risk to reoffend. Further, he had no issues while under pretrial supervision.
“If I could do more, I would. I'm kind of hamstrung here,” Naumoff said.
Prosecutor details dog’s abuse
Assistant Prosecutor Teri Burnside previously detailed the abuse, which happened some time after Yates' wife went to work.
“Yates threw the dog over a gate to the living room into the kitchen,” she said. “The dog defecated — we don't know if it was out of fear or injury — and cowered in the corner.”
Burnside said the dog then defensively bit Yates.
“He grabbed it and threw it down a flight of stairs into the basement,” she said. “Some time in all of this, Yates strangled the dog, maybe out of frustration, to the point where all of the blood vessels in the dog's eye had busted.”
Burnside said the dog “not only suffered but languished.”
“Yates set the dog in the living room and doesn't do anything for the dog,” she said.
The assistant prosecutor said when Yates' wife got home from work, he denied he knew what happened.
The family, including Yates, took Bowser to Medvet in Columbus.
When the dog was examined, doctors discovered he was paraplegic because of a broken back. Bowser also suffered a collapsed lung.
“He led his wife to believe the dog slipped and fell down four steps,” Burnside said.
She added the dog's injuries were not consistent with Yates' version.
“The vet explained that the trauma was of such severity that it was like vehicular trauma,” Burnside said.
At Monday's sentencing, Burnside lobbied for Naumoff to “send a message” to people who think it's no big deal to abuse animals.
“He needs to be punished in some form or fashion,” Burnside said. “There's different levels to this man that are evil. I think he enjoyed the fact that this dog just languished.”
Yates apologized to his wife, who is in the process of divorcing him, and her mother.
Defense attorney Jerry Thompson lobbied for probation.
“This is a situation that had not occurred before and is not going to happen again,” he said.
Thompson also noted that Yates served his country with a four-year stint in the U.S. Marine Corps, attaining the rank of sergeant and receiving an honorable discharge.
Dog’s owner gives victim impact statement
Yates-demario tearfully addressed the court, reading from a prepared statement. She said she adopted Bowser when he was 3 months old.
She spoke directly to Yates. “You took my baby boy away. I don't want kids,” Yates-demario said.
Of the abuse, she said “what a cowardly thing to do.”
“You're not a man. You're a coward who hides behind intimidation,” Yatesdemario said.
She said Bowser suffered for seven hours before he received medical attention, but it was too late.
Yates-demario said Bowser's ashes arrived on the same date that she adopted him. She has sought therapy.
Sheri Demario, her mother, sarcastically called Yates a “big, strong Marine” when she addressed the court.
“He tortured Bowser. He literally tortured him,” Demario said. “He left him there to suffer. Please, let's give Bowser justice.”