Utah County man charged again with abusing dog

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man already facing a charge in 4th District Court for allegedly abusing his dog is now facing a new charge and accused of abusing the same dog while he was awaiting trial for the first case.

Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was charged Tuesday in 4th District Court with torture of a companion animal, a third-degree felony.

On July 15, Davis was at a grocery story in Eagle Mountain when his dog got loose from its leash. A bystander retrieved the dog and returned it to Davis.

However, "after regaining possession of the dog, (Davis) lifted the dog into the air by one paw and repeatedly struck the dog's right hind leg before dropping the dog from approximately 1 to 2 feet. Surveillance video captured the defendant repeatedly striking the dog with significant force," according to charging documents.

A witness who stepped in to help the dog told police that "the dog did not cry out or whimper during the assault because it appeared accustomed to the abuse. The defendant admitted striking the dog because it was not behaving as he desired," the charges state.

An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.

In that case, Davis was charged in April in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis' home, according to charging documents filed in that case. When questioned, Davis "acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment," the charges state.

Davis' next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28. Investigators have recommenced the dog not be returned to Davis. Additional information about the dog was not available in court documents.

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