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CLINTON COUNTY — A 62-year-old Germantown man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Clinton County warrant to felony aggravated cruelty to a companion animal.

Dale Edward Litteken was arrested in January on a Clinton County warrant accusing him of committing “an act that intentionally caused the death of a companion animal” on his property near the 4400 block of Wesclin Road in Germantown.

The Clinton County Sheriff’s Department reported that on December 9, 2022, Litteken called them and reported he’d shot his neighbor’s 11-year-old Siberian Husky Trigger because it was on his property and was threatening his granddaughter.

The dog’s owner, Hobie Timmons called the claim a lie saying his pet was gentle and friendly and 100s of visitors to his home and the neighboring Hidden Lake Winery were witnesses to Trigger’s temperament.

Timmons posted about the shooting on Facebook, including pictures of his pet lying dead in the back of a pickup truck, asking for “justice for Trigger.”

Litteken was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months probation, and ordered to complete medical and mental health treatment, along with alcohol and drug treatment.

He was also sentenced to 10 days in the Clinton County Jail and was ordered to pay over $3,000 in fines and fees.