Man Accused of Trying to Drown Dog Pleads to Animal Cruelty

Man Accused of Trying to Drown
Dog Pleads to Animal Cruelty

June 27, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Joe Scott, Director of Communications
Sandi Gibbons, Public Information Officer
Jane Robison, News Secretary
Shiara Dávila, Assistant PIO
(213) 974-3525

VAN NUYS – A 20-year-old man accused of trying to drown his Shih Tzu “Toby” after the dog defecated on a carpet pleaded no contest today to felony animal cruelty.

Deputy District Attorney Jane Creighton said Casey Purser was ordered to undergo a 90-day diagnostic study prior to sentencing. Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Richard Kirschner ordered Purser, free on bond, to surrender on Aug. 4 for the study.

Diagnostic studies are done while the defendant is confined in state prison. Results are used to help the court determine an appropriate sentence.

Purser was charged with the single felony count on Oct. 4, 2007, following his arrest by the Animal Cruelty Task Force.

Authorities said Purser had been in jail on an unrelated drug case and was released on bail on Oct. 1, 2007. When he returned to his Van Nuys home, he found that the Shih Tzu, one of his two dogs, had defecated on the carpet.

The defendant allegedly threw the dog into a bathtub and held it under water. A neighbor rescued the dog, gave it mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and took it to a veterinarian. The animal survived.

Purser’s other dog, a pit bull puppy named “Evesue,” was taken by authorities when Purser was arrested at the vet’s office.

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