A woman was found guilty on Friday of stealing her cancer-stricken neighbor’s dog and having it euthanized.
Gisele Paris, is facing jail after she stole Mark Boheler’s Siberian husky called Thor from his back yard in Spring Hill, Pennsylvania on Thanksgiving Day last year.
The 58-year-old,who owns a cocker spaniel, then asked a licensed veterinarian to come to her home where she had the animal put down.
Paris’ lawyer maintained throughout that she had taken the dog for a walk but then took it in to care for it because she believed he was being neglected.
She told the jury that he was ‘tired and thirsty’ and eating out of a garbage can.
Paris then testified that she took the dog into her home, cleaned it and took it to the Animal Rescue League where nobody claimed it.
However prosecutors said that she had taken it to Penn Animal Hospital and when she learned it would cost $600 for an operation, she had it put down instead.
Mr Boheler told WPXI: ‘I was thrilled to death she got convicted. If somebody did that to her dog, she would be crying like a baby. She knew what she did. She took that dog.
‘I hope she does time for it so she can sit in jail and think about what she did.
He added that he believes Paris buried Thor’s remains and wants them returned to her.
Pittsburgh police Officer Christine Luffey arrested Paris in February and said she agreed with the jury’s decision.
She said: ‘The jury got it right. I have spoken to Mark Boehler throughout this whole ordeal. Every time we talked, he cried.’
Following the guilty verdict, Paris was placed under house arrest and will only be allowed out of the house to walk her own dog. The sentence varies from probation to 10 years in prison.
She is also facing trial for minor assault and resisting arrest following an incident in February. She is scheduled be in court for that hearing in April.
The district attorney said the vet who put Thor down acted responsibly.
Source: Dailymail.co.uk