I am Eric, and I run I Love Every Dog. I am writing as one dog lover to ask the judge presiding over this case to treat it with the seriousness it deserves.
On March 29, near College Drive in Anchorage's Russian Jack neighborhood, Michelle Anne Appel struck a Saint Bernard with a shovel. Saint Bernards are famously gentle dogs.
Sentencing was supposed to happen this week. It was postponed after character witness testimony ran long, and it is now set for November 23 at 10 a.m. The court is also weighing a legal dispute over whether it can suspend the mandatory minimum penalties that apply, and whether those minimums require jail time.
I am asking the judge to apply the mandatory minimum penalties without suspending them, and to impose a sentence that reflects what happened to a defenseless dog. Alaska's legislature set those minimums for a reason. A dog cannot speak up in court. The people who love dogs can.
Character witnesses can speak to who someone is on a good day. This sentence is about what a dog endured on the worst day of its life. A strong sentence also tells every Anchorage resident that the community doesn't shrug off hitting a pet with a tool.
Please sign this petition to tell the judge that Anchorage is watching, and that the law should be applied as written on November 23.
