FARMINGTON – A Farmington man accused of shooting a dog in the face in March pleaded innocent Wednesday to animal cruelty charges.

Cea J. Pitcher, 20, initially got one civil cruelty to animals charge, but that was upgraded to two criminal charges.

The state alleges that Pitcher attempted to kill the animal by a method that did not cause instantaneous death. The second charge alleges Pitcher injured, tortured or abandoned the animal.

The dog was found wandering on Mosher Hill Road in Farmington March 12 covered in blood.

Veterinarians operated on the dog and installed four pins in the mixed collie-German shepherd’s shattered jaw to hold it together.

Pitcher told police that he had gotten the dog free from a listing in Uncle Henry’s sell or swap publication.

Pitcher told police the dog bit a friend’s dog and also bit his 3-year-old nephew.

“Under Maine law, you have a right to euthanize your own animal,” police Chief Richard Caton III said in March. “He took the dog out to destroy it, shot it and left it for dead. He thought he killed it.”

If Pitcher had actually killed the dog, he would not face any charges, he said then.

“You don’t just wound the animal and leave it,” Caton has said. “You need to do it quickly.”

The former owner of the dog, Eric Quimby of Turner, waited outside the courtroom Wednesday with his sister Ericka Peak and Elwin Churchill of Industry. Churchill found the dog and took it to veterinary hospital.

Quimby said he had raised Max, who is easily 10 years old, since he was a puppy.

Quimby, who lives with his sister, said the family had several animals and he decided to give the dog away at his sister’s urging to a good home so the dog would get more attention.

“We thought he was going to a good home,” Peak said.

Quimby said Max was a good dog. His sister’s children fed the dog, he said, and there were no problems.

“I told Cea J. Pitcher if there were any problems, to bring him back,” Quimby said, “but he didn’t.”

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