OTTAWA – The owner of a dog that was beaten with a shovel and left for dead in an Ottawa dumpster has pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and other charges.
Steven Helfer, 24, pleaded guilty on Friday to animal cruelty, criminal harassment and two counts of assault arising from the savage October attack on Breezy, a Labrador-shepherd cross.
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Helfer faces up to five years in prison and a lifetime ban on owning animals.
He has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment but will be back in court next month to face new animal cruelty charges.
The Crown alleges Helfer stomped a pet chinchilla and her babies to death and skinned six pet rats.
The Ottawa Humane Society says Breezy is recovering in a foster home.
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