A Copperas Cove man pleaded guilty to animal cruelty after leaving a dog to die of apparent dehydration in a Wichita County apartment, according to court documents.
Dakota Che Schmidt, 22, entered a guilty plea Thursday to cruelty to a non-livestock animal in connection with a Nov. 13, 2019, incident, according to court documents.
Eighty-ninth District Judge Charles Barnard sentenced Schmidt to 10 years of probation and a $3,500 fine Thursday as part of a plea bargain, court documents show.
The offense is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Police responded to an apartment complex in November 2019, after employees noticed a foul odor emanating from the apartment, according to a police report.
They found a black Labrador-mix dog, medium-sized, dead in a kennel that was open in the apartment, according to a police report.
Police found dog food available but not water, according to the report. The dog, an 8- to 10-year-old female, appeared to have died from dehydration.
Animal Services investigated and found the dog should have weighed 50 pounds but only weighed 28, according to the report.
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Schmidt, who had gone to the apartment to dispose of the dog, told Animal Services he had not been to the apartment in possibly a month and hadn’t checked on his dog, according to the report.
Schmidt told them he left dog food out but didn’t check on his dog while he was away, according to the report.
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Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news, politics and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Dakota Schmidt pleads guilty to animal cruelty