Wondra sentenced in dog abuse case

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A Hudson man, who was convicted of a felony charge in the death of his dog, was sentenced in St. Croix County Circuit Court Tuesday morning.

Michael J. Wondra, 26, was ordered to serve eight months in the St. Croix County Jail, three years on probation and he was fined $385 by Judge Howard W. Cameron.

Other conditions of his probation included continued mental health programming, absolute sobriety and not to vote until his civil rights are restored.

He was also forbidden to have a four-legged creature in his home without approval of an agent.

Wondra failed to appear at a sentencing hearing Nov. 11. Law enforcement officials said he was taken into protective custody in Polk County prior to the hearing.

He was arrested and charged with one felony count of mistreatment of an animal causing its death following an incident on New Year’s Day 2010 in the town of Hudson.

A neighbor heard the dog squealing in pain. The animal was chained underneath a pine tree. There was blood on the dog and a soup ladle sticking out of the dog’s anus, the criminal complaint said.

The dog struggled to get up and was in obvious pain when deputy investigated the complaint. Wondra told investigators the dog was bleeding due to eating canned dog food.

A neighbor told deputies the animal was yelping in pain for three hours.

The dog was taken to the Animal Emergency Clinic in St. Paul, Minn. where a veterinarian diagnosed a likely colonic perforation and the animal was put down Jan. 2.

The district attorney’s office and public defender Joseph Caton worked out a plea agreement whereby the state would stand by the recommended sentence as result of a pre-sentence investigation. The agreement involved withdrawal of a not guilty by reason of mental defect plea filed earlier by Wondra. He pleaded guilty Sept. 2.

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