By Shereen Siewert

A Wausau man is facing a felony charge of mistreatment of animals amid allegations that he injured three animals, one of which suffered broken bones and required surgery.

Chase D. Leroy, was charged May 11 with felony animal mistreatment along with two misdemeanor counts of intentionally mistreating animals. He was ordered held May 17 on a cash bond of $3,000 and is prohibited from living in a home with domestic animals.

In the first instance, Leroy is accused of throwing a poodle puppy named Annie so hard that the dog was unable to walk. A vet diagnosed Annie with a broken femoral head, which required surgery to remove the broken portion of the bone, and x-rays showed an additional, older fracture to the puppy’s tibia.

A witness also told police Leroy put Annie’s face in the toilet, then flushing while holding the dog’s head inside as punishment.

A second dog, an Aussiedoodle named MooMoo, also allegedly suffered under Leroy’s care. His former partner told police she saw Moooo’s nose dripping blood and sneezing blood from her nose with a bloodshot eye after the dog urinated on the bed sheets. Because MooMoo would urinate inside the home, the witness said, Leroy kept her on a short leash and limited her water intake to one cup of water one or two times daily. The dog was tied up anywhere from an hour to an entire day and at one point the witness discovered MooMoo tied to a pole on a one-foot lead surrounded by a day’s worth of feces and urine on the floor.

The dogs were removed from the home and taken to a vet.

Another allegation surfaced in February when the city’s humane officer esponded to a home on South Sixth Avenue in Wausau for a report of an animal left outside in extreme cold conditions. The weather was 4 degrees with a -11 wind chill at the time of the call, according to court documents. Police say the dog was left outdoors for more than two hours, visibly shivering. The defendant was home at the time.

Leroy, who remains behind bars, is due to appear May 24 for a preliminary hearing in the case.

You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.