A 23-year-old man who beat the Chihuahua belonging to his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend to the point that a bystander thought the dog was dead was sentenced Tuesday to attend animal-empathy counseling.
Authorities say John Isaac Pettay went to a Northeast Portland Applebee's restaurant with his ex-girlfriend's mother on May 30. After learning that the dog inside the mother's car belonged to the new boyfriend, Pettay returned to the parked car and began pummeling the dog.
Prosecutor Nicole Jergovic told a judge that witnesses heard the Chihuahua "making horrendous screaming noises" that sounded "like a baby or very small child being beaten."
Bystanders surrounded the car. One snapped a photo of the the dog named Eman lying motionless inside. Someone called police as Pettay left the scene.
Pettay originally was charged with first-degree aggravated animal abuse. But the prosecutor said she was willing to accept Pettay's no contest plea to attempting to commit that crime because the animal was later found to have no injuries. Jergovic said she thought attempted first-degree aggravated animal abuse addressed what Pettay had done: tried to kill the dog.
Defense attorney Chris Howard said his client didn't agree with the prosecution's assessment but was willing to plead because he wants out of jail. Pettay has spent the past four months locked up. The plea deal called for no additional jail time.
Howard said no one saw Pettay's fists actually make contact with the dog. Witnesses heard the dog's yelps and screeches, but Chihuahuas are known for being anxious, loud and overreacting, Howard said.
The lack of injuries supports the argument that Pettay wasn't trying to seriously hurt it, Howard said.
Howard told the judge that Pettay was willing to attend animal-empathy counseling -- which includes counseling on anger management -- because "the events here show Mr. Pettay probably has a bit of a temper."
As part of the plea agreement, Pettay also was sentenced to five years of probation and is banned from owning a pet for five years.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Kenneth Walker dismissed a separate case accusing Pettay of burglarizing and threatening his ex-girlfriend in her apartment. Jergovic, the prosecutor, told the judge that she supports the dismissal because the alleged victim's information contained discrepancies.
Court records show that the ex-girlfriend claimed that on May 29 -- the day before Pettay beat the Chihuahua -- Pettay followed her into her Gresham apartment and threatened to kill her, her 6-year-old daughter and her mother.
The ex-girlfriend told police that Pettay was obsessed with her and that the two had never dated.
Howard said the ex-girlfriend later admitted to a deputy that she'd had sex once with Pettay. And photos and text messages that Pettay provided proved that the two had had a relationship. The ex-girlfriend's mother also later told police that the couple had dated.
-- Aimee Green
503-294-5119