Man's dog abuse trial opens in DuPage court

Two years ago, Jennifer Linhart gave her beloved pooch, "Scooby," two doggy treats, put him in his crate with a blanket and left her Woodridge apartment.

Less than an hour later, her live-in boyfriend called to report he found Scooby with injuries so severe that the Shih Tzu-Maltese mix eventually had to be put to sleep.

"That dog basically was my everything," Linhart said. "He was my first priority. He was with me through thick and thin."

Now a DuPage County judge is trying to determine whether the ex-boyfriend, Mario E. Spizzirri, 31, of Bartlett, should be convicted on aggravated animal cruelty charges.

Spizzirri's bench trial opened Thursday with prosecutors accusing him of fracturing the dog's skull on Feb. 21, 2008, in the former couple's apartment on the 6500 block of Double Eagle Drive.

Prosecutor Joseph Ruggiero said Scooby was fine as Linhart left the apartment and Spizzirri was arriving home. He said only one thing could have caused the nearly 10-pound dog's injuries.

"He (Spizzirri) let his anger get the best of him and he struck this dog," said Ruggiero, adding that Spizzirri didn't like the dog.

But Sam Amirante, Spizzirri's attorney, said in his opening statement the case against his client is circumstantial. He said there's no direct or corroborating evidence to prove Spizzirri harmed the dog.

Amirante said the only thing that he and prosecutors agree on is that Scooby died from a traumatic injury.

Police became involved in the case after a veterinarian at the Arboretum View in Downers Grove, where Spizzirri took Scooby at Linhart's urging, called to report the suspected abuse.

Authorities sent the dog's remains for a necropsy to the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in Urbana. Doctors found Scooby died due to blunt force trauma.

The trial is expected to continue today before DuPage Circuit Judge Blanche Hill Fawell.

If convicted, Spizzirri faces punishment from probation to up to three years in prison.