Woman Charged for Slitting Puppy's Throat
Thirty year-old Lynn Tarphagan of Nashville was arrested last Thursday and charged with aggravated animal cruelty after, according to Nashville Metro Police, she used a knife to kill a mixed-breed puppy outside her mobile home by slitting its throat. The puppy was apparently a stray that had followed someone into the mobile home park only to meet its doom at the hands of the apparently puppy-unfriendly Tarphagan. She is currently being held on a $10,000 bond.
A person can be charged with aggravated animal cruelty when "with aggravated cruelty and with no justifiable purpose, the person intentionally kills or intentionally causes serious physical injury to a companion animal." T.C.A. 39-14-212. Aggravated animal cruelty is a Class E felony, which carries a maximum of six years in prison. Additionally, the court can force the offender to forfeit possession of all animals, forbid the offender from obtaining any new animals, order psychological counseling for the defendant, or impose one of several other punishments or remedial measures.
Although the penalty for this offense can be steep, the way the statute is written leaves it vulnerable to a few different defenses and limitations. First, it is limited to companion animals, meaning that livestock and certain other animals do not fall within the purview of the statute. Second, the defendant may be able to argue that the way in which the animal was treated did not constitute aggravated cruelty as defined by the statute. Third, the offender can argue that he or she had a justifiable purpose for his or her treatment of the animal, which would also exempt them from punishment under the statute. Successfully presenting any of these arguments may allow a defendant to avoid punishment or receive a lesser sentence. Defendants would be wise to consult an experienced East Tennessee criminal defense attorney for assistance in presenting the strongest case possible against this type of charge.
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