Man pleads no contest to animal abuse charge

A Sioux Falls man caught on video slamming and strangling two dogs has pleaded no contest to a felony animal abuse charge.

Nicholas Michael Snowden, 37, entered his plea last week to one count of felony cruelty to an animal. The remaining charges he faces will be dismissed.

Snowden will be sentenced Feb. 11.

According to an arrest affidavit, the Sioux Falls Humane Society called animal control officers in July about a video posted on Facebook of a man abusing a dog.

Animal control officers contacted the man who posted the video. He said a friend owned the dogs and identified Snowden as man in the video.

The man told officers that Snowden had abused another dog by taking it into a shower and burning it with scalding water, the affidavit states.

Officers found two dogs, Almond and Lola, when they went to interview the woman who owned them at a home in the 300 block of South Lyndale Avenue.

“Almond was skinny, and (the officer) could feel his ribs and hip bones,” the affidavit states. “(The officer) observed that Almond was walking with a limp, had a head tilt and was walking in circles.”

The owner said she was aware of the video but hadn’t seen Snowden for quite some time. The owner said Almond broke his leg jumping out of a vehicle, Lola had a broken foot and burns, and that a third dog, Queso, had been hit by a bus.

The owner told the officers that she believed the injuries the dogs suffered were caused by Snowden, her former boyfriend.

Officers later found Snowden and spoke with him about the video. He admitted that the video “looked horrible” but said the angle the video was shot at made the incident appear a lot worse.