ST. PAUL, Neb. (KSNB) – A St. Paul man accused of tying a dog’s legs and drowning it in an irrigation canal stands convicted of animal neglect, court records state.
Joshua Balcom, 27, was originally charged with felony animal cruelty resulting in death. Prosecutors reduced the charge to misdemeanor animal neglect. Balcom pled guilty to the lesser charge and will be sentenced April 9.
Court records show Balcom zip-tied a black lab’s legs together and then threw the dog into an irrigation ditch near Cushing. The dog was found drowned to death July 16, 2024, about a mile downstream.
An affidavit says that Balcom and his girlfriend got the dog July 7. The girlfriend, Sadie Miller, 29, told a sheriff’s deputy that the dog killed some chickens, so she and Balcom killed the dog, documents show.
The max penalty for animal neglect is a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Court records show Miller was also originally charged with felony animal neglect resulting in death, but prosecutors reduced that charge to misdemeanor animal neglect. A court hearing in her case is scheduled Feb. 12.
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