VIRGINIA BEACH — A Chesapeake man pleaded responsible Thursday to a misdemeanor cost of animal cruelty after admitting to capturing his household’s adopted French bulldog for biting a number of folks.
James Ok. Culbertson, 41, entered the plea in Virginia Beach General District Court. Judge Daniel Lahne gave him a 30-day suspended jail sentence and fined him $1,000.
Culbertson and his household had adopted the brindle canine named Mojo from a rescue group in August 2022, based on courtroom paperwork. The canine, believed to be between 5 and eight years old, bit three folks inside a couple of month after they introduced him home, the paperwork mentioned.
Among the injured have been a 11-year-old neighbor who almost misplaced his nostril, and the Culbertson’s teenage daughter, who suffered a chew that went all the best way to a bone in her foot, the paperwork mentioned.
After their daughter was harm, Culbertson’s spouse contacted the rescue group and a Virginia Beach Animal Control officer who had fostered the canine, and advised them of their intent to have Mojo euthanized, based on an announcement of information entered into proof.
She then known as 4 veterinarian workplaces to attempt to schedule the euthanasia however was advised both they couldn’t do it as a result of Mojo wasn’t a affected person, or that it could be two weeks or extra, the assertion mentioned. The Virginia Beach animal management officer advised the household their workplace might deal with it, however solely after the Culbertsons quarantined the canine for 10 days.
Two days later, Culbertson’s spouse, Kristin, gave Mojo a sedative and Culbertson shot him twice behind the top with a 9mm gun, the assertion mentioned. Culbertson then buried the canine on rural Virginia Beach property he owns.
Three days after that, the emergency care heart that handled the Culbertson’s daughter contacted Chesapeake Animal Services in regards to the chew, which then reached out to the Culbertsons, the assertion mentioned. Kristin Culbertson advised them her husband had “humanely put the dog to sleep,” the assertion mentioned, which then led to an investigation.
After the canine’s physique was exhumed, a necropsy was carried out. The vet decided Mojo was nonetheless alive when he was buried and died of asphyxia as a result of there was proof of filth in his trachea. She additionally wrote in her report she believed Mojo had solely been crippled by the pictures, and suffered a merciless and painful demise.
“It is hard to imagine the pain and terror this little dog must have suffered, buried alive and struggling for air after being shot twice in the neck — all at the hands of the very people he relied on for comfort and safety,” a spokeswoman for Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals mentioned in an announcement. “PETA reminds everyone that help is always available and there’s never an excuse for subjecting an animal to torture and a prolonged, agonizing death.”
Defense legal professional Bassel Khalaf, nonetheless, disputed the concept Mojo was nonetheless alive when buried. A veterinary pathologist analyzed trachea and lung samples and located no proof of international materials in his airways to counsel he was nonetheless respiratory when buried, based on the assertion of information.
Khalaf mentioned Culbertson is an animal lover with an intensive historical past of working with cattle. More than two dozen folks got here to courtroom Thursday to point out their help for him, the protection lawyer mentioned.
“He was very, very torn up about having to put the dog down,” Khalaf mentioned.
Jane Harper, [email protected]
