Montana teen facing animal cruelty charge

SANDPOINT — A Montana teen is awaiting trial in Bonner County Juvenile Court for allegedly beating a dog.

Shepard Webster is charged with animal cruelty, a misdemeanor. An admit/deny hearing, the juvenile court equivalent of an arraignment hearing, is set for Tuesday, court records show.

Webster was only cited for the offense on July 14, but became the subject of an arrest warrant after he failed to turn up at a hearing in the case. He was arrested by police in Missoula and has since been released on a $1,000, according to court records.

Webster, of Victor, was 17 at the time of the alleged offense, but has since reached the age of majority, court documents indicate.

Witnesses told Sandpoint Police they saw Webster pummeling the dog inside a vehicle at Paul’s Chevron, a police report said. One witness told police they saw Webster exit the front of the vehicle, go to the back of the vehicle and deliver a “hammer fist” punch to the dog’s head. That witness said Webster rained six more blows on the dog, the report said.

A second witness told police he saw Webster throw the dog into the vehicle and confronted him about beating the animal. Webster, the report said, denied harming the dog and said he was only playing with it.

The dog, named Karma, was seized by police and taken to the Panhandle Animal Shelter. Webster did not object to the dog being removed from his custody, the report said.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.