Rochester, N.H. – Police in Rochester, New Hampshire have arrested a man for allegedly starving his dog to death last fall.
That dog, Mandy, a 2-year-old Pit Bull was a Fairfield dog that had been brought to the Fairfield County Animal Shelter last year and adopted to a rescue organization, according to County Animal Control Director Bob Innes.
“The rescue organization then adopted the dog out,” Inness said. “Now the dog is dead. These things happen everywhere. It’s a shame,” Innes said.
Michael Jouvelakas, 30, has been charged with two Class A misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals in connection with the death of Mandy.
Capt. Todd Pinkham was quoted in the Rochester newspaper as saying that an anonymous caller contacted the Rochester Police Department on Oct. 3, 2019, to report they believed Jouvelakas shot and killed Mandy and that Jouvelakas left Mandy’s body in his Chestnut Street home’s basement. This claim about the cause of the dog’s death proved to be false after an investigation.
While officers were arriving at the home, however, other officers located Jouvelakas nearby according to the newspaper report. At the home, officers said they found Mandy’s body wrapped in a blanket inside a trash bag on the bed of a pickup truck.
Jouvelakas was released while authorities conducted a necropsy and consulted with animal forensics specialists about Mandy, Pinkham said. After the additional investigation determined Mandy’s cause of death was starvation, Police were unable to locate Jouvelakas and issued a warrant for his arrest.
Innis told The Voice that he was contacted on Tuesday by the Rochester police who said Jouvelakas turned himself in Monday evening.
