Calgary puppy owner wants jail time for man accused of punting dog in Calgary park

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Calgary puppy owner wants jail time for man accused of punting dog in Calgary park
By Dave Dormer, Calgary Sun First posted: Wednesday, July 15, 2015 07:57 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, July 15, 2015 10:55 PM EDT
Facing a nearly $5,000 vet bill, a Calgary woman said she wants to see jail time result from an unprovoked attack on her five-month-old puppy.
Erin Tajiri was playing slo-pitch with her boyfriend and teammates at Father Lacombe High School about 7 p.m. Friday — the other team didn’t show so they decided to practise instead — and was sitting in a chair with five month old corgi puppy Lil-E leashed nearby when four men came walking through the field.
“One guy was older and polite and she just walked up to him and sniffed him,” said Tajiri.
“She turned around and there was another guy coming and she was walking right at him.
“She started running, and of course she was excited because she’s a puppy and loves meeting new people ... and he started running.
“We thought he was going to run past, then he kicked her.”
Tajiri said it was like someone kicking a field goal, and the man was wearing steel-toe boots.
“That’s exactly how I would describe it,” she said.
“It’s like she was in the perfect position and he kicked her in the left shoulder.”
The group called police and Joseph Kueth-Teny, 40, was arrested on animal cruelty charges — which carries a maximum punishment of five years in jail or up to a $10,000 fine — as well as unrelated warrants.
Kueth-Teny was released on a promise to appear.
The three other men were released without charge.
“When we asked him why he did it he just said ‘dogs don’t have feelings,” said Tajiri.
Tajiri and her boyfriend rushed Lil-E to an emergency vet clinic, where she had to be sedated before undergoing x-rays because of the amount of pain she was in.
That revealed a broken shoulder, which had to pinned back into place on Monday.
The bone will take six to eight weeks to heal, said Tajiri, then Lil-E is facing weeks of physiotherapy.
“She should be OK,” she she said.
“They’re hoping because the surgery went well and she’s only five months old it should heal better than if she was an older dog.”
The weekend stay at the vet’s cost $1,200, said Tajiri, and surgery another $3,600.
And because the accused is homeless and not working, there is little chance of recouping that money.
Friends have started a GoFundMe page to help the couple, which had raised more than $2,300 by Wednesday afternoon, and can be found by clicking here.
dave.dormer@sunmedia.ca
On Twitter: @SUNDaveDormer
Erin Tarjiri and Dallas Ehrhardt hold their injured five-month-old corgi Lil-E outside their home in Calgary, Alta., on Wednesday, July 15, 2015. They claim Lil-E was injured when she was randomly kicked by a passerby while they were at a slo-pitch field. Lyle Aspinall/Calgary Sun/Postmedia Network

Calgary puppy owner wants jail time for man accused of punting dog in Calgary pa