A man was charged with stealing a beloved family pet that was sold and left to die under the baking sun -- abandoned by a boy who left the boxer without food and water while he went on a weeklong vacation to Door County.

Eleven days after her dog Riggs went missing, Ann Marie McMahon found him chained to a post and dead, left there by a 14-year-old who paid $200 for the stolen dog only to learn that his parents wouldn't let him keep the animal.

McMahon and her 7-year-old daughter, Brittany McPherson, buried Riggs under the shade of a maple tree in the yard of their Mukwonago home.  "We couldn't have him in the sun," said McMahon, who gave the then-puppy to her daughter on the girl's first birthday.  "He was just too trusting," McMahon said. "He loved kids too much."

Joshua Silverman , 20, is accused of stealing Riggs as the dog romped in a cemetery behind McMahon's home on June 27, according to a criminal complaint filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court.

The complaint and police allege that:  Silverman sold the dog to a 14-year-old Waterford boy for $200. But when told by his father he couldn't have the dog, the boy chained Riggs to a post near a boat launch in Tichigan Lake.

When a friend asked the boy whether he had left food and water for the dog, he said: "No, but he'll be OK," according to the police report.  The boy then left for the family trip to Door County.

Police have asked the Racine County district attorney's office to file a juvenile petition against the boy for cruelty to an animal.

McMahon, her daughter and family friends were badly shaken by the incident. Many of them had worked long hours posting hundreds of fliers in Waukesha and Racine counties during a concerted search for Riggs.

One boy who helped with the fliers cried when he heard the news that Riggs had been found dead.

McMahon said her daughter has had trouble sleeping since Riggs was taken.  "We have to keep the lights on out back," McMahon said. "She thinks he might come home," even though they have already buried their pet.

McMahon said her daughter had filled the water dish of a neighbor's thirsty black Labrador.  "She's 7," McMahon said of her daughter. "What 7-year-old cares like that?"

Riggs was a familiar figure at drive-through windows at Mukwonago restaurants and banks.  With the dog's head hanging out the window, clerks at McDonald's and Culver's would sneak him ice cream.

The day Riggs went missing, McMahon and her daughter were swimming in their backyard pool.

Silverman is accused of putting a leash on Riggs and leading him off before selling him to the Waterford boy, with whom Silverman had worked, said Mukwonago Police Chief Fred Winchowky.

A friend told McMahon that she saw a dog meeting Riggs' description that day near a local supermarket. McMahon's sleuthing led her to Silverman's fiancee and other teens, some of whom eventually directed her to the boat landing.

She found Riggs there.  "I ran to him," said McMahon. "As I came up to him, I fell to my knees and screamed.  "He was baked by the sun."

Officers said Riggs may have been tied to the pole for about nine days.

Appearing in court briefly, Silverman was charged with party to the crime of felony theft. If convicted, he would face a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

His mother, Dawn Blodgett, said after the hearing that her son loved animals and never meant to hurt the dog. She said she felt terrible about the dog's death and was trying to buy a new boxer for McMahon.

Blodgett said her son sold the dog because he was unemployed and living out of a car.  "This was a very stupid mistake," she said. "I told him that that's not how you get money.  "He meant no harm to the dog. He wasn't thinking it was owned by somebody. He was thinking it was a stray. That was unfortunate, and he'll live with the guilt, I know for a fact, about the dog dying."

But McMahon said there is no way Silverman could have concluded Riggs was a stray. The boxer was well-groomed and wearing tags.

Court records show Silverman has a string of convictions and served about four months in jail in Racine County for possession of marijuana, disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon.

One teen told police that Silverman made a habit of stealing dogs and selling them.  But his fiancee, Nicole Benavides, said that wasn't true.  "He does not sell dogs. We love animals," Benavides said, noting that she and Silverman own a pitbull.

But when questioned by police, Silverman gave numerous conflicting stories, the criminal complaint says.

When Silverman was asked whether he had thought the boxer belonged to someone when he took it, he said: "I don't know."

Update 8/10/01:  A court commissioner ordered Silverman to stand trial on allegations he stole and sold a dog that later died after being tied to a pole and abandoned for days without food or water.

Silverman, of Elkhorn waived his preliminary hearing after his attorney failed in an attempt to get Silverman's felony theft charge dismissed.

A 14-year-old Town of Waterford boy who prosecutors say bought the boxer named Riggs for $200 from Silverman was charged last week in Racine County Juvenile Court with mistreatment of an animal causing death.

Town of Waterford police Sgt. Wayne Spletter said that no other charges were expected. The 14-year-old boy's parents, who told their son he could not have a dog, apparently did not know that he already had it and had tied it up, Spletter said.  "To my knowledge, I don't believe they did," he said. "The parents did not know about it."

Silverman's public defender, Anthony Rosario, argued in court that the theft charge should be dropped because Silverman thought the dog was a stray.  "Perhaps he's dumb. Perhaps he's naive. Perhaps he should have looked into it further," Rosario said. "But that doesn't rise to the level of criminal conduct."

Rosario said that to convict a person of theft, prosecutors must prove that the defendant knew the owner did not give him consent to take the dog. Unaware the dog belonged to someone, Silverman wouldn't have sought consent to take it, Rosario argued.  "He took the dog," he said. "The dog did have some type of choke collar on it but didn't have any tags."

The remark drew loud murmurs of dispute from Ann Marie McMahon and her family, who attended Silverman's hearing. McMahon has said her daughter's pet was wearing a silver collar and a green tag from a Mukwonago animal hospital with its phone number, Assistant District Attorney Debra Blasius told the commissioner.

Nonetheless, Rosario said, the criminal complaint did not contain sufficient evidence to show Silverman intended to commit theft.  None of the witnesses in the complaint said that Silverman confessed he intentionally stole the dog, Rosario said. When police asked Silverman if he thought the boxer belonged to anyone when he took and sold it, Silverman answered, "I don't know," Rosario said.

He asked the commissioner to disregard one witness' comment in the complaint, that he knew Silverman "allegedly sold dogs" but did not know about the missing boxer.  "He is perpetuating what seems to be a rumor," Rosario said.

As McMahon wiped away tears, Blasius told the commissioner there was sufficient cause for the case to proceed to trial.  "Ann McMahon certainly did not consent to take that dog from that property," Blasius said.  She said Silverman "admitted he sold the dog" and initially lied about the identity of the dog's buyer.  "He took the dog and sold it that same day," she said.

Commissioner Laura Florian Lau agreed, saying, "It is clear that probable cause has been established that the defendant probably committed a felony, and it's probably the felony of theft.

"If the defendant had taken the dog to the humane society, we wouldn't be here today. He caught the dog, took it, knew it wasn't his . . . and then he sold it."

If convicted, Silverman could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Update 9/1/01:  Silverman pleaded not guilty to the theft of a Mukwonago family's dog, which later died.  Silverman also requested a new judge for his case. No new court date was set until the new judge will be determined.

Update 1/9/02:  Silverman pleaded no contest to a felony charge of being party to the theft of a dog.  He faces up to five years in prison at his sentencing March 7.

Silverman told Circuit Judge Patrick Haughney that he got $100 for helping to sell the boxer, named Riggs, which he found walking in a cemetery behind the dog owner's property. Silverman said the dog had a collar and he believed that it belonged to someone.

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