SAN FRANCISCO—On Wednesday, December 31, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins filed charges against, Charles Wentworth, 46, who killed his pet dog. He was arraigned at 1:30 p.m. at Department 19 in the Hall of Justice. As a result of public safety concerns and his criminal background, the defendant will remain in police custody without bail. Wentworth is charged with one felony count of unlawfully killing an animal.
Officers from the San Francisco Police Department found Wentworth manhandling the corpse of his dead dog. They apprehended him at the scene, booking him into San Francisco County Jail for felony animal cruelty.
On Monday, December 29, at approximately after 11 a.m., Wentworth strangled his pet pitbull, Smokey, to death in public at the 400 block of China Basin Street in Mission Bay.
Witnesses observed Wentworth pulling and choking Smokey by his dog leash/collar, lifting the dog off the ground so that his front paws were in the air. The dog went limp, collapsing to the ground and became unresponsive.
Wentworth dragged Smokey’s body around till the officers arrived on the scene, where it they discovered the animal had died. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth. As witnesses reported, the dog seemed terrified before the incident.
Anyone with details on the case is asked to contact the San Francisco Police Department at (415) 575-4444 or its Text-A-Tip Hotline at TIP411, beginning the message with ‘SFPD.’
