A 43-year-old Racine man faces a felony charge of mistreatment of animals after witnesses reported seeing him beat his dog several times in recent weeks.
The felony mistreatment of animals charge was filed Friday in Racine County Circuit Court against Terrence L. Howard. It carries a fine of $10,000 and three years, six months in prison.
According to the criminal complaint:
Witnesses called the Racine Police Department and reported that on June 3, the defendant was seen beating his 10-month-old dog on the balcony of his house. Two days later, a witness reported seeing Howard throwing the dog against the side of the house and then beating him for several minutes.
The complaint further states witnesses heard the dog “screaming” in pain, and children in the area asked them to call police. At one point, a witness saw Howard beating the dog with a stick, and on another occasion, saw him hitting the dogs with his fists.
A search warrant was executed at the residence, 1958 Taylor Ave., on Thursday and police recovered the dog, along with a metal pipe on the front porch. The dog had a number of visible wounds, including two lacerations on the top of his head and one above his eye. There also was hair loss or injury to both of the dog’s front paws.
Howard admitted to police that he struck the dog about 10 different times because it would tear up its leash. He also admitted to causing the lacerations to the dog’s head.
Howard will be back in court June 14 for a 9 a.m. preliminary hearing.