Temporarily at My Life as a Spam Blog
BOULDER - A Butte man accused of shooting a dog and severing its head with a chain saw pleaded not guilty Wednesday to seven charges against him.
John R. Howald, 30, posted bail after District Judge Loren Tucker reduced his bail from $100,000 to $35,000.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.quote.gif
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"Fortunately, no individual human being was hurt, but at the very least you have to describe the allegations in this case as bizarre," Tucker said.
About 9 p.m. on Sept. 3, Howald allegedly shot a chocolate Labrador named Gunner after the dog wandered into his campsite near Bernice. Court records said Howald cut off the dog's head and threw the head into a campsite occupied by Mike and Brenda Sullivan of Butte, the parents of the dog's owner.
Howald also allegedly threw a beer bottle at a boy in the same area and fired a gun when the boy's father confronted him. Witnesses said Howald was intoxicated.
He is charged with aggravated animal cruelty, attempted aggravated animal cruelty, tampering with evidence, criminal endangerment, two counts of intimidation and misdemeanor criminal mischief.
It may be true that, for a week or more, this administration couldn't get a bottle of water to a diabetic grandmother, but when something was actually at stake - what reporters far and wide referred to as the "rebuilding" not of New Orleans but of a presidency, or simply of the presidential "image" - efficiency, coordination, and togetherness were the by-words of the day.
