Charges filed in August animal abuse case
By Jenna Wilson
A St. Joseph couple has been charged with animal abuse that led to a dog’s death last month.
Marc P. Carpenter and Stephany A. Carpenter have both been charged with a Class A misdemeanor of animal abuse in Buchanan County.
In August, a lethargic Great Pyrenees was found near Lake Contrary and immediately taken to Angel’s Vet Express, where it succumbed due to health issues.
According to a probable cause statement, the Carpenter’s owned the dog for approximately one month and failed to provide proper care to the animal, which led to significant harm.
“The dog had a severe heart worm parasite infection, an ear infection (for over three weeks) that caused substantial maggots on the dog, and weight of fifty-three pounds with an expected weight of approximately one hundred pounds as he was an adult dog,” the statement detailed.
Gary Silverglat, co-owner of Angel’s, said Aug. 26 that if the dog had been brought in earlier, it would have had a much better chance.
“Anybody could see that this is totally inexcusable for any dog to go through,” Silverglat said in a previous interview. “If we would have had the dog a month ago, he would still be happy and could have lived 15 years, but he had too much going against him.”
