In Chester County, dog barks, man kills it, say police
WEST NOTTINGHAM — A Maryland man is free on bail awaiting a preliminary hearing for an incident in which he allegedly killed a family pet because he was annoyed that the dog was barking too much.
Damien Matthew Thiel, 21 of Warminster, Carroll County, Md., was arrested by state police after they were called to a home in West Nottingham earlier this month for the report of a dog that had been killed.
Thiel was charged with counts of cruelty to animals and neglect of animals and held in Chester County Prison before making bail. A hearing before Magisterial District Judge Scott Massey of Oxford is set for June 18.
According to an arrest affidavit filed by Trooper Kenneth French of the Avondale state police barracks, he and another trooper were dispatched to a home on Pleasant Drive for the report of a domestic disturbance due to a boyfriend, Thiel, killing a dog.
When they arrived, French spoke with Thiel, who related the following:
He was inside the home when the small black and white shih-tzu was continuously barking, causing him and his unnamed girlfriend to become annoyed. He yelled at the dog, he told the trooper, but the dog continued to bark, so he struck the pet several times.
He said that he then saw blood coming out of the dog’s mouth and so he took it outside and threw it out the front door into the front lawn, where it possibly broke its neck.
A witness to the incident said he watched as Thiel punched the dog in the face and belly, and the dog began to cry, according to the complaint. The witness said he did not see how hard the dog was punched, but when he saw Thiel outside, the man acknowledged that he had killed the dog.
French also said in his complaint that Thiel had said on a phone call to 911 that he killed the dog.
Cruelty to animals is a third-degree felony punishable by a possible sentence of 3½ to seven years in prison.
To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.
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