Dog death brings service sentence

LANGDON, N.D. (AP) — A Langdon man accused of starving a dog to death has been ordered to serve 40 hours of community service and have no pets for a year.

Twenty-one-year-old Derrick Skjerva pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty.

The Cavalier County sheriff’s office reported finding a dead dog in a kennel inside Skjerva’s apartment on May 29. The report said the dog was lying in its own feces and was emaciated.

Authorities said Skjerva told them he did not like the dog, had it only because of an old girlfriend, and would feed it only every couple of days because feeding it more often would be too costly.

Skjerva also was ordered to pay $110 in restitution to the dog’s owner. If he follows all of the court’s orders, the charge could be dismissed after a year.

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