A Tecumseh man, 33-year-old Brandon Patterson, has plead guilty to animal abuse stemming from a incident in May 2017 in which he allegedly tortured a dog over a two-day period. The guilty plea to the Class E felony carries a sentence of up to four years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. However, because the court found Patterson a prior and persistent offender, the charge will be sentenced as if it were a class D felony, which carries a prison sentence of up to seven years.
The Ozark County Times reports according to the probable cause statement in the case, officers were alerted to a man actively abusing a dog behind a residence on PP Highway in Tecumseh. When an Ozark County deputy arrived, he found a small dog locked inside a dog crate and placed inside a metal trash can. The dog was lying in the bottom of the crate, unable to move and struggling to breathe. Patterson was standing nearby and when approached by the deputy reportedly stated, Ive been mean to it. Im sorry.
Patterson reportedly told the officer on the previous evening, he put the dog inside the trash can and filled the can with water from a garden hose. Patterson said he made the dog swim inside the trash can until it grew tired and could not swim any longer. He repeated this process for one to two hours.
While the dog was in the trash can, Patterson said he poked the animal, dunked it under the water and forced it to keep swimming. At one point, the dog bit Patterson, so he used a blow gun instead of his hands to keep the dog swimming and to push it under water. Additionally, Patterson reportedly placed the lid on the trash can and put a cinder block on top, causing the dog to tread water in complete darkness with very little air space to breathe. Patterson told the officer he had been doing the same thing the day an officer arrived on scene.
When the deputy asked Patterson why he had abused the animal, Patterson told the him he didnt know what he was doing and had lost both his thought process and control during the act.
The dog was taken to a local veterinarian for analysis and was found to have a fever of 104 degrees and aspiration pneumonia. It was treated with antibiotics and later released to the possession of a family member.
Patterson requested a sentencing advisory report, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled in June.
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