A lawmaker in the US allegedly strangled a stray dog to death with a ‘noose’ because it bit his finger.
Richard Van Buren, 55, chairman of the Wisconsin town of Chester, is accused of using a leash as a noose on a golden retriever that was turned in to him.
A woman who found the dog brought it to Van Buren, who also acted as the town’s animal control officer.
Van Buren got agitated from the dog’s barking and from getting bitten when he tried to put a collar on it, according to a criminal complaint.
He allegedly responded by dangling the animal by a leash several times and saying, ‘This f***ing dog is going to die.’
‘The dog’s legs were off the ground and suspended about two feet in the air,’ states the complaint obtained by WISN.
‘It was foamed at the mouth.’
Van Buren allegedly said, ‘This is what we do on this farm when dogs bite.’
The local lawmaker admitted to an investigator that he held the dog off the ground with the leash and that he was ‘mad’ about the bite which caused his finger to bleed.
Van Buren said that he used a rope as a choke collar and that it was ‘too tight for too long, probably’, according to the complaint.
He was charged with felony mistreatment of animals on Friday in connection with the June 17 incident. A judge agreed to a bail recommendation that Van Buren could only be around animals that are livestock, and that his dogs be taken away from his property.
Van Buren contested the allegations as ‘a bunch of lies’.
If sentenced, Van Buren faces up to three-and-a-half years in prison.
The Dodge County Humane Society shared two photos of the pup on Facebook hoping to find its owner, and stating that it was found on Highway 49 and did not have a microchip.
Chester is about 75 miles northwest of Milwaukee.
Van Buren was charged a few months after three adults were busted for allegedly leaving a dead puppy in a pizza box and other pups starving inside a Michigan home.
