ST. GEORGE, Utah — A St. George man accused of killing his neighbor’s two-pound Yorkshire Terrier has pleaded guilty to an animal cruelty charge, St. George News reports.
Kenyon Clark Benson, 74, pleaded guilty to a class C misdemeanor count of aggravated cruelty to an animal.
The charge stems from a call made to police last November by Nancy Limburg, who said her 12-year-old daughter witnessed Benson beating “Chewy” with a pair of gardening shears, the St. George News report said.
“What is known and is not in dispute, is that a small dog entered the neighbor’s yard and approached the man, who was maintaining his landscaping,” a representative for St. George Police told St. George News. “The man swung a long handled pruning sheer at the dog when it approached him. The sheers ended up striking the dog in the head, killing it instantly.”
The St. George City Attorney’s Office recommended a 90-day jail sentence, with the 90-day term suspended, and a 12-month bench probation for Benson, the report said.
