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Article Archive > Middletown man pleads guilty to throwing girlfriend's dog off bridge Middletown man pleads guilty to throwing girlfriend's dog off bridge MIDDLETOWN - A Belford man, who in an act of spite threw his girlfriend's puppy off a bridge trestle and into a swamp last year, pleaded guilty to a charge of animal cruelty on Monday and is banned from owning animals for five years, according to the authorities. William E. Deppisch, of Campbell Avenue in the Belford section, was also sentenced to 90 days in Monmouth County Jail, Freehold Township, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine for the April, 2011 crime, said Victor "Buddy" Amato, chief law enforcement officer for the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He entered the guilty plea in front of Judge Michael Thompson in municipal court here. Deppisch, 23, was watching his girlfriend's terrier, Jack, who was about five months old at the time, when he and his girlfriend got into an argument, Amato said. Deppisch then took the puppy down Henry Hudson Trail and flung it off the trestle, an approximate 20-foot drop to the creek bed below. "Unfortunately," Amato said, "it's very common in domestic incidents." Jack was later recovered by Holmdel Police and taken to an area hospital for treatment. He was eventually returned to his owner, Amato said. The authorities declined to release his photo. |