Donato, age 52 has been charged with Class A misdemeanor animal cruelty in the shooting death of a 5lb Jack Russell terrier named Penny.  Donato shot and killed Penny on Friday, 12/15/06 then put her body in a salt bag and attempted to cover up the crime.  He was apprehended by the police with the dogs body in the back of his truck.  Donato was also charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

  Penny's owners, Kyle & Kristen MacArthur, initially thought Penny had been shot and killed with a bow and arrow, but upon further investigation by the police it was determined that Penny was shot with a gun.

Donato of Currier Hill Road, admitted to the police that Penny was not barking, was not posing any threat to him or his animals, she was just on his property.  Donato had called police previously to complain that the dog had been chasing his chickens and because of this the MacArthur's had planned to put up a fence to keep the dog in their yard.

The MacArthur's were not home when Penny was let out of the house by her mother and babysitter.  When the MacArthurs returned home Kyle confronted Donato asking him if he had seen Penny, which he denied at first then suggested otherwise.  Kyle had told Donato that he was planning on putting the fence up over the coming weekend, when Donato stated it was "too late".  Kyle suspected Donato was drunk and when he saw him leave Kirsten called the police while Kyle followed him as he headed down Route 3A to Bristol.  The police stopped Donato north of the downtown area, and found the dog in the truck.  Donato was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated.

Upon further investigation, the police found that the dog had been killed by a single gunshot wound and issued an arrest warrant for Donato.  Donato turned himself into police on tuesday, 12/19/06 and was then charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty.  If convicted the misdemeanor carries up to a 12-month sentence and as much as $12,000 in fines.  If charged with a felony the sentence would be 3 1/2 to 7 years in prison.  Under NH state law, it is a felony to purposely hurt an animal.

Donato was released on personal recognizance bail, and will be arraigned on January 22, 2007 in Franklin District Court.

Update:  12/29/06:

Max, an 8-week-old Jack Russell terrier has been given to the MacArthur's by Charity & Alex Eddy of Franklin, NH.

Charity Eddy after hearing about the killing of Penny had to reach out to the family as the puppy's mother Lillian did for her when her 13-month-old son was killed in a car accident.  When the MacArthur's came to look at the litter of pups, Max went out of his way to let the family know that he picked them, doing everything he could to win them over.

Update 4/3/07:

  (Photo courtesy of Ken Williams, the Concord Monitor)  Donato through a plea agreement did not contest the animal cruelty charges was fined $125, ordered to pay the dog owners $500 and received a deferred sentence of 90 days.  Donato will serve 3 days along with a 10 day sentence for drunk driving.  The judge did tell Donato that if he got into trouble the deferred sentence would be imposed.  By trouble Judge Gordon means breaking the law or being charged with any major motor vehicle violations.

The MacArthur's, owners of Penny, said they understood the plea agreement but also said the animal cruelty laws in NH are too lenient and needs to be revised.  Kirsten MacArthur is a licensed drug and alcohol counselor and said "The biggest thing to her is that he really gets the treatment needed to address his problems with alcohol".

Donato also plead guilty to the DWI charge which is his third offense - he must participate in an alcohol awareness and intervention program for people with multiple DWI offenses.  In one year he will have to return to court and prove that he has completed the program, and has followed the recommendations for the treatment program.

Reference:

WMUR TV

The Concord Monitor

Fosters Daily Democrat

The Union Leader