I have had pets all my life. My kids have had dogs of all sizes as they were growing up. Housebreaking them is a very tedious job which takes lots of patience. I can remember getting mad but never mad enough to beat the poor dog.

A Calgary man apparently did though. Christopher John Piasentin, 26 was charged with beating a 4 month old beagle puppy and placed under house arrest for five months. Piasentin claims he would do anything to take it back now. He has been given 2 years probation, and he must take counseling for alcohol and drug abuse and anger management classes. He must perform 100 hours of community service and is not allowed to own any pets. Also he has been ordered to pay $1000 to the Calgary Humane Society.
 
The dog, Levi, was beaten so bad it had to be euthanized. It reportedly suffered several fractures, liver damage, bruising and lung and brain hemorrhaging. The poor thing didn’t have a chance.

“Nobody has punished me more than I have punished myself,” said Piasentin, alluding to the Nov. 1, 2006, incident. “I can understand why everyone is so upset. This is something that has changed me.”

When Piasentin was leaving the court room after being sentenced members of the animal rights group DAISY approached him asking if he ever thinks of the dog now. “I think about him every day,” said Piasentin. The founder of DAISY said she wished Piasentin would have been given jail time.
 
In court Piasentin said he had been drinking and got mad at the dog for urinating in the basement. He told his girlfriend that he was going to kill that puppy when he text messaged her. Later in the day the puppy urinated on him in his bed and this is what triggered the fit with the dog. He beat Levi repeatedly until the poor defenseless puppy was unconscious. He called his girlfriend back and left another message telling her that he thought he had killed the dog.
 
Brad Nichols, a peace officer with the Calgary Humane Society, said jail time would’ve been appropriate. “Certainly, we’ve seen incarceration for offences of this nature in the past, said Nichols.

Jan Barrett