A man has turned himself in to police nearly a week after allegedly beating a rescue dog being walked in Burlington, Massachusetts.
A 69-year-old man was walking his dog on the trails around Mill Pond Reservoir Tuesday morning when two other dogs allegedly began fighting his pet. Their owner allegedly attacked the man's dog, Gigi, beating her so severely that she ended up with serious injuries.
Forty-five-year-old Austin Beliveau Jr. was arraigned Monday in Woburn District Court on animal cruelty charges carrying a prison sentence of up to seven years. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.
"I'm not excited, but I'm grateful," said John Romano Jr., whose father was walking Gigi at the time of the attack.
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GiGi required emergency facial reconstructive surgery. Her jaw and nose were broken, and she lost some of her teeth.
"What's being described as the victim dog is three times larger than my client's dog," Kevin Mullen, a defense attorney representing Beliveau, said in court Monday.
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Prosecutors said Beliveau hit Gigi in the face with a bicycle tire.
The 69-year-old man fell over on impact. His son says they're now hesitant to walk the same trail they've been on for years.
"It just hurts to see someone in the family be treated like that and go through this," Romano said. "But were hanging in there. We're doing alright."
The family was hoping the man would be ordered to stay away from the Mill Pond Reservoir, but since that's near where he lives, the judge only ordered him to stay away from the victims in the case and any dogs other than his own.
