Man denies guilt in case of dog beating

CANAAN – In his first court appearance since being jailed last Monday, Keith Cordice, 28, of Canaan, summoned last week for beating a dog, entered a plea of not guilty Friday to a violation of probation.

The state is maintaining that Cordice, who was on probation after serving a year in prison for burglary, committed new criminal activity after he was summoned for cruelty to animals.

Cordice is accused of beating Bud, a mellow, 12-year-old yellow Labrador, with a baseball bat and then dumping him in a gravel pit where the dog languished for five days. The attack left the dog permanently blind.

Since word of Bud’s condition first was reported, dozens of good Samaritans have come forward to help with the dog’s medical costs. Requests for the address of Carl Clarke, Bud’s owner, have come from California, Boston, and throughout Maine.

Cordice has been held without bail pending his probation revocation hearing. After he entered a denial Friday, no date was set for the hearing.

Justice Joseph Jabar ordered him held without bail pending the probation revocation hearing. His attorney, John Alsop of Norridgewock, said he needed time to review the case before proceeding.

Meanwhile, Somerset County sheriff’s Deputy Wilfred Dodge, lead investigator in the case, said the Somerset County District Attorney’s Office also is reviewing the case to see if charges can be escalated to aggravated animal cruelty, which is a felony.

In an interview earlier this week, Clarke said Cordice bragged about injuring the dog after he lured it into his garage and beat it with a baseball bat.

The owner said Cordice was a stranger to the dog and gave no reason for the attack. Cordice lives about five miles from the Clarke home and does not know Clarke.

The investigation into Bud’s injuries began on June 16 when Clarke noticed he was missing and began searching for his pet. It wasn’t until June 21 that someone found the dog, barely conscious, wandering and stumbling around in the trash in a gravel pit three miles from home.

A flurry of veterinary examinations revealed a deep gash on the dog’s neck was infected and he had been severely beaten.

He also was permanently blinded, and it was suspected that he also had eaten something toxic in the gravel pit. Toxicology tests are pending.