GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A Howard man who was convicted after leaving his two dogs outside in the freezing cold without adequate water, food, or shelter has been sentenced.
At a recent sentencing hearing, Judge Thomas Walsh placed 22-year-old Trinton Menomin on probation for two years and ruled that he cannot own any animals for three years.
Additionally, he must perform fifty hours of community service, according to court records.
Menomin pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of intentionally improperly sheltering a dog outside, intentionally failing to provide food for an animal, obstructing an officer, and marijuana possession, while three similar counts were dismissed.
Back in January, police were called to his home when the temperature was seven degrees for a call of barking dogs.
Police received fifty-five complaints about the home between October 11 and the January call, according to the criminal complaint.
The house had been deemed a nuisance property.
In the most recent call, deputies found two Great Danes in the fenced in backyard.
According to officers, one of the dogs was in distress and its ribs were visible.
In the report, Brown County Animal Control Officer Monica Hoff noted that Great Danes do not handle cold weather well.
In those weather conditions, she says hypothermia or frostbite can set in within 20 or 30 minutes.
Officers were concerned someone might have tried to commit suicide through hypothermia.
Investigators found many of the home’s windows open and a month’s worth of mail in the mailbox, according to the criminal complaint.
Officers say inside the home they encountered a strong odor of urine, feces, and rotting garbage.
Deputies also discovered a dead lizard in a tank inside the living room, which they say was left uncared for intentionally.
