Man Who Beats Puppy Gets 1-Year County Jail Term, April 2004

Sacramento Bee, April 6, 2004, Copyright 2004 McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.
Art Campos, Bee Staff Writer

A man who beat, kicked, and flung an 8-week-old puppy to the ground was sentenced Monday to a year in Placer County Jail.

Michael Robert Griggs, 23, a transient, also was placed on three years' probation by Placer Superior Court Judge J. Richard Couzens, who warned he would send Griggs to prison "in a heartbeat" if he violates the terms.

"What you did was a despicable, cowardly crime," Couzens told Griggs in an Auburn courtroom.

The judge said Griggs' drunkenness during the Feb. 12 incident "is no excuse" for attacking the puppy, which suffered an injured hind leg.

Couzens also told Griggs, "I have no patience for people who victimize others," adding that he includes animals as well as humans in his interpretation of victims.

Griggs, who pleaded guilty March 8 to willful cruelty to an animal, also was ordered by Couzens to pay $808 for the puppy's veterinary care and more than $900 in other penalties and fees.

He is also not to possess animals when released from jail and must take alcohol-rehabilitation and anger-management classes.

In his probation report, Griggs admitted striking the dog after it bit him in a lot behind a store at Highway 49 and Bell Road in north Auburn.

Griggs denied an account by a witness that he kicked the puppy and spun it rapidly over his head on a leash before flinging it to the pavement.

The puppy was taken to a veterinarian and recovered. Last month, the Labrador/pit bull mix was adopted by a Lincoln family, said Linda Webb, senior administrator for Placer County Animal Services.

"The puppy healed fine, perfectly," Webb said.

In court, Peggy Turner, a deputy district attorny, said Griggs "was only minimally remorseful for his treatmnet of the puppy."

"It's only by the grace of God that the puppy was able to recover from its injuries," Turner told the judge.

She said Griggs had a misdemeanor spousal abuse case in Washoe County, Nev., in 2001, hasn't worked since November and has been living off his girlfriend.

Griggs' attorney, Dan Clymo, an assistant public defender, said it wasn't true that his client has shown little remorse for hurting the dog.

Clymo said Griggs has said, "I can't believe I did this," and was fearful about being sentenced.

Clymo said Couzens wanted to send Griggs to prison but the defendant's criminal history, which also includes a petty theft conviction and several arrest for being drunk in public, didn't warrant such a sentence.

"Mr. Griggs recognizes that he deserved some (jail) time, but he is also happy not to be going to state prison," Clymop said.

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