- New York, USA -
UPDATE: March 6, 2021
On Wednesday, March 3, 51-year-old MILTON FLOYD LIGHTHALL (pictured below), appeared virtually before Judge Robert Bauer in Oneida County Court.
On October 2, 2020, LIGHTHALL had dragged a defenseless dog, Lilly, behind his car.
Lilly had to be euthanized as a result of the severe injuries she sustained.
LIGHTHALL pleaded guilty to Felony aggravated cruelty to animals under the New York State Agriculture and Markets law, and, as part of his plea deal, LIGHTHALL will face the maximum sentence of only 2 years in prison.
He is being held without bail at the Oneida County Correctional Facility until sentencing.
LIGHTHALL, of North White Street, Oneida, will be sentenced on April 29, 2021.
WIBX950 reports that after the conviction, Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara said: “I offer the continued condolences of my office to Lilly’s owner and to the greater community of people who tirelessly advocate for the humane and ethical treatment of animals. The gratuitous infliction of suffering upon a defenseless animal will never be tolerated, and because of this, the maximum sentence was the only outcome of the case that was acceptable to our office for such a cruel act.”
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~ Original story:
A joint investigation conducted by the Oneida County Sheriff's Office and the Central New York SPCA led to the arrest of 50-year-old MILTON FLOYD LIGHTHALL (pictured below).
LIGHTHALL, of Oneida, was arrested on Wednesday, November 11, and is accused of dragging a dog behind a vehicle ultimately leading to her senseless and unnecessary death.
According to the Sheriff’s Office Facebook post, the investigation started in early October after a witness called 911 to report that they came up on a vehicle parked on Hill Road in Verona.
The caller also said they saw LIGHTHALL with a dog who had a cord around her neck near that vehicle.
According to the witness, LIGHTHALL said he found the dog, removed the cord from the neck, got in his vehicle, and drove off.
The witness saw blood on the ground coming from the dog who at this point had run away.
Responding deputies requested the assistance of the Town of Verona Dog Warden in an attempt to find the injured and bleeding dog.
The bloody footprints only led officers to a certain point and beyond that, the furbaby could not be found.
On October 9, a man went to the Happy Valley Animal Hospital in Verona with a badly injured dog.
That dog matched the description of the bleeding dog sought by the deputies days earlier.
It turned out that the dog brought into the hospital was the same as the one the deputies were looking for.
It also emerged that the man who took the furbaby to the animal hospital, was her guardian.
The furbaby in question was a 6-year-old Australian Shepherd named Lilly.
Lilly’s guardian explained to deputies that he had been searching for her since she went missing from their Madison County home on October 2.
While Lilly was missing from her home, her guardian saw on social media that an injured dog had been seen in Verona on Hill Road.
He then asked a friend to take him there and look for Lilly.
Veterinarians said that Lilly had serious and advanced injuries and had been suffering.
Sadly, as a result of those injuries, Lilly had to be euthanized.
Her body was then turned over to the CNY SPCA investigators.
Investigators took Lilly’s lifeless body to the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University for a necropsy.
Results showed that Lilly’s injuries “were consistent with being forcefully dragged against a rough surface, most likely by a vehicle, and that her injuries also suggested that she attempted to resist being dragged.”
Investigators identified MILTON FLOYD LIGHTHALL as the individual who had Lilly with him when she went missing.
MILTON FLOYD LIGHTHALL was also “identified as an associate of the dog’s owner who had been at his residence earlier that day and days prior.”
MILTON FLOYD LIGHTHALL was taken into custody in the Town of Lincoln, Madison County and transported to the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office for arrest processing.
The Sheriff’s Office Facebook post also reads that “Because this offense is one that monetary bail cannot be set on, he was issued an appearance ticket returnable to the Town of Verona Court at a later date.”
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