Dante Pennachio, 39, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated burglary and is being held on a $200,000 bond in a case stemming from a dispute over a pet squirrel. Police say he returned to his former girlfriend’s home, where the encounter became physical.
Police were called to a home on Merriweather Street NW on Saturday, October 24, and stopped Pennachio as he drove away, according to Cleveland.com. The police report describes a dispute between Pennachio and his former girlfriend over a squirrel they had shared as a pet.
In the police account, Pennachio said he entered through an unlocked front door to retrieve his belongings. He also told officers that his former girlfriend attacked him first and that he acted in self-defense.
The Police Report Contains Conflicting Accounts
His former girlfriend told police that Pennachio began taking back gifts he had given her. She said he threw her to the floor when she stood in front of the squirrel’s cage, then left with the animal. She also said she punched and kicked him as he left and that he had sent threatening text messages for several days.
She told officers she had been caring for the squirrel until it could be turned over to the humane society, according to the police report. The report did not say where the squirrel was afterward.
Bond Set at $200,000, No-Contact Order Issued
Judge Natasha Natale set Pennachio’s bond at $200,000 and ordered him to have no contact with his former girlfriend, Cleveland.com reported. Pennachio entered his not-guilty plea in Warren Municipal Court, according to court records cited by the outlet, and is due back in court this Thursday, October 29. A separate report from Warren News / WFMJ also reported that he was held in the Trumbull County Jail on that bond.
What Ohio Law Says About Keeping Wild Animals
The case has drawn attention to the murky legal territory around keeping squirrels and other wild animals as pets. Ohio law generally prohibits keeping animals taken from the wild as pets, according to guidance from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which also states that injured or orphaned wildlife must be transferred to a licensed rehabilitator rather than kept privately. Separately, the Ohio Wildlife Center notes that state law makes it illegal to possess a wild-caught native or game animal without permits from the Ohio Division of Wildlife and, in some cases, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Wildlife Care and Rehabilitation
For wildlife that is truly abandoned or injured, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources advises contacting a local wildlife rehabilitator or county wildlife officer before attempting to capture or feed the animal. ODNR says Category I rehabilitation permits cover healthy, orphaned, non-rabies-vector mammals such as squirrels; Category II permits cover a broader range of wildlife, according to the agency’s rehabilitator guidance.
As for the burglary charge itself, the Ohio Revised Code states that a violation of the aggravated burglary statute is a felony of the first degree. Pennachio's next court appearance this Thursday could shed more light on how prosecutors plan to handle the case, though the final outcome remains pending.
