A 34-year-old Savannah man is facing an animal cruelty charge after New York State Police say he struck, choked and repeatedly shocked his dog with a shock collar because the animal had damaged part of his vehicle. William Ubiles was arrested Saturday night and now faces a misdemeanor count under state agriculture law.
Troopers from the SP Lyons station were called to Wiley Road in Savannah on October 10. State Police processed Ubiles at the Lyons barracks. Investigators told RochesterFirst that Ubiles became upset after the dog damaged a part of his vehicle, and responded by hitting, choking, and repeatedly using a shock collar on the animal.
Ubiles was charged with violating New York Agriculture and Markets Law Section 353, which covers torturing, unjustifiably injuring, or cruelly beating an animal. The statute is a Class A misdemeanor, carrying a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, according to FindLaw.
Why the Charge Stopped Short of a Felony
The misdemeanor charge applies because the alleged conduct does not meet the higher legal bar for felony aggravated cruelty under Section 353-a, which requires proof of intent to cause extreme pain or depraved, sadistic conduct, per the same statute's framework. New York's court system has also noted that Section 353 contains no enhanced sentencing provisions for repeat offenders — unless the conduct independently qualifies as felony aggravated cruelty or animal fighting, judges cannot impose a harsher predicate sentence even on someone with a prior cruelty conviction.
There is active debate in Albany over whether that penalty structure is tough enough. A proposal would add a Class D felony for animal cruelty resulting in an animal's death as Section 352.
Arraigned at the County Jail, Not a Local Courtroom
Because the arrest happened outside regular court hours in a rural part of the county, Ubiles was arraigned at the Wayne County Jail rather than a town courtroom. Off-hours defendants in Wayne County are routed through the Centralized Arraignment Part, or CAP Court, a dedicated courtroom inside the jail in Lyons where town and village justices are assigned on a rotating basis, according to the Times of Wayne County. The Wayne County Public Defender's Office handles roughly 730 scheduled CAP Court appearances annually to ensure defendants have legal representation at these initial hearings.
Savannah is in Wayne County.
What Could Happen to the Dog
New York judges have statutory authority under Agriculture and Markets Law Section 374 to order forfeiture of an abused animal upon conviction, and can impose probation conditions barring a convicted defendant from owning, housing, or coming into contact with companion animals for up to three years. Violating those probation terms can trigger revocation and the imposition of the statutory maximum sentence, according to the Potsdam Humane Society.
Wayne County's shelter capacity for animals removed from abusive situations expanded earlier this year. The Humane Society of Wayne County opened a new 10,000-square-foot shelter facility along Route 31 in Lyons in April, a $4.5 million community-funded project that replaced an older building to expand both housing capacity and veterinary care for lost, neglected, and abused animals across the county.
It remains unclear whether local prosecutors will seek an animal ownership prohibition as part of any bail conditions or future sentencing, and no date for Ubiles's appearance in Savannah Town Court had been reported as of this writing.
