Facebook video leads to animal cruelty arrest

A Facebook video showing a Sioux Falls man slamming and strangling two dogs could land him in prison for eight years.

Nicholas Michael Snowden, 37, was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury on four counts of cruelty to animals. Each charge carries a sentence of up to two years in prison.

According to an arrest affidavit, the Sioux Falls Humane Society called animal control 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 allegedly abused another dog by taking her into a shower and burning her 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 that Almond broke his leg jumping out of a jeep, 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 believes the injuries the dogs suffered were caused by her former boyfriend, Snowden.

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.

The veterinarian who treated Lola told officers the owner admitted that Snowden intentionally burned the dog. Another vet who treated Almond’s injuries said the dog came in crying with a severe head tilt, a broken upper right canine and brain swelling. Queso also had been treated for a complete tibia fracture, the affidavit states.

A warrant was issued for Snowden's arrest. He is being held without bond in the Minnehaha County jail. It is not immediately clear if Snowden has a lawyer.

Shari Kosel, chair of South Dakotans Fighting Animal Cruelty Together, said cases like this are exactly why she pushed last year for a felony-level charge for animal abuse. The activist pushed the state for years to have a stiffer penalty for animal abuse deemed inhumane.

The state Senate in 2014 voted unanimously in favor of making “gross physical abuse” a felony carrying up to two years in prison. South Dakota at the time was the only state without a felony charge for animal abuse.

“This makes me sick,” Kosel said. “These are living beings that put their trust in us. It’s up to us to make sure they are cared for in a humane way.”