July 30, 2021 -- A 58-year-old Ohio doctor has been convicted for hitting his dog with a hammer and shooting him, according to multiple news reports.
Joseph Stubbers III, DO, a resident of Indiana, was found guilty July 26 on three counts of torturing or mutilating a vertebrate animal.
Stubbers, who owns and operates Fairfield Primary Care in Fairfield, OH, will be sentenced September 7. The charges have been forwarded to the Ohio Medical Review Board.
Stubbers was reportedly arrested in 2019 after neighbors reported him for beating his 5-year-old English Mastiff, Cooper, with a hammer and shooting him with a handgun.
Prosecuting Attorney Lynn Deddens said a neighbor witnessed Stubbers cleaning the garage floor with bleach after bludgeoning the dog in the head. The doctor then allegedly left to go to a party.
Officers who went to the scene found blood spots, bleach, a bullet that had been fired, and a garden hose that was still spraying water, according to Fox19.
“He was in such a rush, he left the garden hose on,” Deputy Prosecutor Jerry Charles said.
Deputy Prosecutor Jefferson Kisor explained that Stubbers had thought the dog was dead, claiming he had only acted after the dog latched onto his arm. But there were reportedly no signs of attack and no bite marks.
Deputies said the dog’s right eye had been “mutilated.”
“It’s gruesome evidence because it was a gruesome crime,” Kisor said.
Cooper was rescued by Dearborn County Animal Control and has since been adopted by a new owner, who reported the dog has gained much needed weight and is thriving.