Posted: April 21, 2008, 5 a.m. EST
A man charged with three counts of animal cruelty and three charges of animal abuse turned himself in this week to the Superior Court of California, North Justice Center in Fullerton, Calif. He pleaded not guilty to the six misdemeanor counts, authorities said.
If convicted, he faces up to three years in jail, said Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office. The man was arraigned and released on $10,000 bail. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for May 8.
The case involves a 2007 video where the part-time college student allegedly tossed a Pug and two rabbits 15 to 30 feet in the air and let the animals hit the floor. Emami said an animal rights group learned of the video within the past couple of months and alerted the Anaheim Police Department.
“This case, like all of our other cases, is being taken seriously,” she said. “We filed charges based on the fact that we believe a crime was committed.”
The man has taken the video off his MySpace page. The animals did not appear to be injured.
“Here at the DA’s office we vigorously prosecute all of our cases,” Emami said. “Animals are defenseless, that’s why we prosecute these and we take them seriously.”