February 3, 2016
By Sarah Sacheli
Michael Earl Hill, 32, (click here) entered a surprise guilty plea Monday to a charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. Hill had been scheduled for a closed door meeting about his case, but insisted on pleading guilty instead, said lawyer Ahmad Ammar.
After his release, Hill will be on probation for three years and is banned from having a pet for 25 years.
“There is no other way to describe this act; it’s a despicable act of depravity,” assistant Crown attorney Craig Houle told the court.
Denied bail last month, Hill has spent the time since his Dec. 18 arrest in solitary confinement. His lawyer says Hill has been segregated from the rest of the inmates at the South West Detention for his own protection.
Court heard Monday and at Hill’s bail hearing the history of the 13-pound dog Hill abused. Jessica Hems and Adam Esipu had given the dog to Hill on Dec. 15 to surrender to the humane society. The couple had a newborn daughter who was allergic to the seven-year-old Patterdale terrier named Nos.
Hill took $60 from the couple to cover the fee to drop off a dog at the shelter. Two days later, Hems and Esipu were subjects of an intense social media campaign aimed at finding the dog’s owners....
It speaks to a person's character. "If you'll do that to a dog, what won't you do?"
It speaks to a person's character. "If you'll do that to a dog, what won't you do?"
