State v. Doherty, COA23-820, ___ N.C. App. ___ (May. 7, 2024)

In this Davie County case, defendant appealed his conviction for felony cruelty to animals, arguing error in (1) denying his motion to dismiss because a single kick to a dog could not constitute “cruelly beat” and (2) failing to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of misdemeanor cruelty to animals. The Court of Appeals found no error.

In November of 2019, a woman was walking her dog on the street in front of defendant’s house, when a car approached. Because there were no sidewalks, the woman and her dog stepped into defendant’s yard to let the car pass; the car stopped because the occupants knew the woman, and they chatted about her husband’s health issues. As this conversation took place, defendant ran out of his home and kicked the dog in the stomach, then ran back into his house. The dog had serious internal injuries and required emergency veterinary treatment, including an overnight stay in the veterinary hospital.  

Taking up (1), the Court of Appeals explained that the statute did not define “cruelly beat” for purposes of cruelty to animals, making this a matter of first impression. The court first looked to the meaning of “beat” and whether it required repeated strikes, determining that it “could be understood to mean both a hard hit or strike, or repeated strikes.” Slip Op. at 9. Taking this understanding and combining it with the intent of the General Assembly to protect animals from unnecessary pain, the court concluded “under the plain meaning of the words, ‘cruelly beat’ can apply to any act that causes the unjustifiable pain, suffering, or death to an animal, even if it is just one single act.” Id. 

Moving to (2), the court explained that defendant was not entitled to the instruction on a lesser-included offense as, after establishing the “cruelly beat” element of the charge, “there was no dispute as to the evidence supporting felony cruelty to animals.” Id. at 15.