MANCHESTER, NH – A city man was given a suspended sentence in the killing of a 5-month-old puppy after he pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony count of animal cruelty.
Still, William Farnsworth, 32, was led away in handcuffs from a Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District court because he also pleaded guilty to possession of more than five grams of fentanyl. That resulted in Judge Amy Messer sentencing him to 1 ½ to 7 years in the New Hampshire State Prison.
He was given a 3 ½ to 7-year suspended sentence on the animal cruelty charge.
Before accepting his guilty pleas, which were negotiated, the judge asked Farnsworth a few questions, including whether he had taken any drugs or medication. He said he hadn’t.
She said he looked tired.
Farnsworth told her that earlier in the day he had been with his children and had been crying all morning.
“Your eyes look a little red and I just want to make sure you know what you are doing today,” she said. He said he did.
The judge, in sentencing Farnsworth, encouraged him to “get as much help as possible while at the prison for substance use disorder and anger management as well.”
According to the probable cause statement of Detective Ryan Heile, on Dec. 17, 2022, Farnsworth’s girlfriend went to the police station to report he had killed their 5-month-old red/blue nosed pit bull. She said the two of them shared the $300 cost for the puppy.
Farnsworth, however, was frustrated house training the dog and would hit, stomp, kick and pin the puppy, named Duke, against the wall each time he had an accident in the home.
On the morning of Dec. 7, 2022, she told the detective she woke up about 5 a.m. because of a noise coming from the kitchen. She got up and went to the kitchen where she saw Farnsworth kneeling on Duke’s neck/shoulder as the puppy laid on his bed. She yelled for him to stop and then went into the living room.
Shortly after, she said, Farnsworth was “freaking out” and she returned to the kitchen to see Farnsworth attempting to give Duke CPR.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kill him,” he said, according to the girlfriend.
She told him to take the dog to the vet because, she told Heile, her three children were asleep and she did not want them to wake up and be traumatized by the death of Duke. Farnsworth put the dog in a garbage bag and left.
He returned about 2 ½ hours later and said the veterinarian at the 24-hour emergency office on Brown Avenue was unable to revive the dog.
Police later checked with the veterinarian who reported they had not received the dog.