Dog owner wants 'justice,' gets cited

WEST JORDAN — Dog owner Dale Sweat hoped law enforcement would give him justice against a juvenile who allegedly beat his dog with a bat, but instead prosecutors handed Sweat three misdemeanor citations on Monday.

"The District Attorney's Office has declined to file an animal cruelty charge against the juvenile due to lack of evidence sufficient to meet the elements of that offense beyond a reasonable doubt," the District Attorney's Office stated. "Specifically, there is no evidence that the dog was injured, and the available evidence indicates that the juvenile's intent was to protect himself from the dog.

Sweat told the Deseret News he's spent $400 in veterinary treatment and pain medication for the 6-year-old dog after the boy assaulted it with a baseball bat he found in the yard on June 9.

Sweat was charged with animal running at large, animal attacking a person and failure to attach a dog license, all of which are class B misdemeanors.

The boy was handing out fliers in the neighborhood around the time of the incident.

— Jacob Hancock and Emiley Morgan