Norristown – A Telford man faces court supervision and has been banned from keeping pets after settling an animal cruelty case in which he was accused of beating a friend’s 10-year-old beagle, The dog, named “Annie,” later died.
Kerion Jonana Youells, 28, of the 300 block of West Broad Street was sentenced to two years probation in Montgomery County Court as he pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge related to an incident at his residence in April 2020.
No plea is not an admission of guilt, but an admission that prosecutors had enough evidence to support a conviction at trial.
Prosecutors charged Youells with willful, knowing or reckless cruelty, battery or cruelty to animals.
Accepting the plea deal in the matter, Judge Virgil B. Walker said Youells can keep any animals he currently owns, but he cannot acquire any additional animals as a condition of his sentence.
“We take these cases very seriously and prosecute them to the best of our ability based on the information we have. With this resolution, animal cruelty will be placed on the defendant’s criminal record and he will not be able to go out for adoption or buy or otherwise own any additional animals,” Assistant District Attorney Gabriel Hughes said.
A woman went to Telford Police Station and reported that Ules called her in the early morning hours of 16 April 2020 to inform her of the unexpected death of her female beagle named ‘Annie’ while in his care , and an investigation was launched. The woman left the dog with Youell overnight, according to the criminal complaint filed by Telford Detective Daniel S. Fox and Humane Society Officer Tracie Graham.
The woman told Youells to take the dog to Harleysville Veterinary Hospital, where she would wait for him.
Jules allegedly told the woman he hit the dog multiple times because it bit him and locked the dog in the bathroom. According to the arrest affidavit, Ules claimed she “acted weirdly, but he didn’t think there was anything wrong” when he let the dog out of the bathroom.
Youells claims he woke up around 2am to find the dog dead.
Detectives noted in the criminal complaint that Jules and the woman got into an argument 24 hours before the beagle died.
The beagle was taken to an animal hospital for an autopsy.
According to the criminal complaint, an autopsy report from the hospital stated that “the dog’s abdomen was filled with blood, and that the blood came from the dog’s liver.”
When investigators interviewed Youells on Aug. 20, he admitted to hitting the dog multiple times, according to the arrest affidavit.
Youells claimed the dog bit him and “literally got her teeth in,” however, according to the criminal complaint, detectives saw no evidence of such wounds on either of Youells’ arms.
Detectives noted in the criminal complaint that Youells weighed more than 225 pounds, while the average female beagle weighs between 18 and 35 pounds.
According to court documents, a veterinary expert reviewed the autopsy report and related materials and concluded that the dog “died as a result of severe hemorrhage due to a traumatic liver fracture.”
“He believes this is consistent with defendant’s admission of trauma to the dog,” Fox and Graham wrote in their arrest affidavit.
Jules was dismissed as part of a plea deal with a more serious felony charge of aggravated animal cruelty causing grievous bodily injury or death to an animal.
