MARATHON COUNTY - A Marathon County farmer faces felony charges for animal mistreatment.
68-year-old Terrence Seubert of Dorchester allegedly killed eight puppies with a sledgehammer.
Court documents show Seubert told investigators the price to sterilize the dogs' mother was ``too high''. He told police he did not want any more puppies running around on the farm.
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Frank Martin replied on
I have three things to say about this case:
First, the man should not get a pass for not being able to afford getting his dog spayed. This man is far from poor. He owns "Seubert Feed N Stock" which according to ChamberofCommerce.com "has an annual sales volume of $1M – 1,999,999" and together with his sons he also owns "Seubert Calf Ranches" and "SCR Racing" with over 25 race cars (see http://www.seubertincwi.com/).
Second, this incident was part of a larger family dispute. According to the criminal complaint, it was one of his sons who bred his male black lab with this man's female blue heeler, and it was the son who was finding homes for the puppies, one of which his own daughter had picked out and already named (before her grandfather bludgeoned it to death with a sledge hammer). It was this son who alerted the authorities, so there is a whole family drama below the surface of this tragedy that points to more sinister motives for "doing away with the puppies" as the man so casually put it when he described what he did to the police.
Third, keep in mind the puppies were only 3 days old. They would not have been able to "run around the farm" which is what the man was trying to avoid. The puppies should not be taken from the mother for 6 to 8 weeks anyway, so the son should have been given more time to find homes for all of the puppies. Why was there such a rush to get rid of them and then to do so in such a violent manner?
There is much more to this story than we know. Still, I will make a prediction. Because this man already admitted everything to the police and evidence (including the sledge hammer) has been collected, there is no question of guilt. The only question is what kind of deal will this man's lawyers make with the DA to reduce the charges to misdemeanors that carry a fine and no jail time. He has the money and the resources to hire good attorneys and pay a hefty fine and have this case go away. My prediction is it will never get to a trial. He will make a guilty plea to cruelty with intent, a Class A misdemeanor, within the next 2 weeks, pay $10,000 in fines, and put this all behind him.
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