4 Months in Jail, 5 Years Probation for Man Who Strangled Dog in Punishment; He’ll Be Added to Abuser Registry

Howard Taft Blair, the 56-year-old former resident of Warwick Place in Palm Coast who killed one of his dogs in anger and may have injured another a year ago, was sentenced to four months in jail and five years of probation in a plea before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols on Wednesday. 

Nutmeg, the dog he killed, was a 15-month-old female. He had strangled her “right next to her crate” instead of putting her in her crate, Assistant State Attorney Tara Libby said, after she attacked a smaller dog, Jackson, in a fight over a plate of food Blair made them share.

The third-degree felony charge carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison. It was an open plea, leaving it to the judge to decide the penalty. Blair was adjudicated guilty. His did not score mandatory prison, based on sentencing guidelines. 

Libby had asked for a year at the county jail followed by a year of house arrest, or community control, as part of the four years of probation. Blair had a criminal history, including felonies, dating back about 35 years, but not involving violence. 

He said he had killed Nutmeg by asphyxiation after the dog had attacked one of his other dogs, Jackson. He thought Nutmeg had killed Jackson, and overreacted. Libby said the veterinarian did not see Jackson’s injuries as consistent with another animal’s attack, suggesting that Blair had attacked Jackson, not Nutmeg. “We cannot prove that,” Libby said, which is why no charge was brought in that regard. 

He and his wife had four or five dogs. The couple is finalizing its divorce, which was triggered by the incident. After the incident, Blair almost lost his life in a motorcycle crash. He struggled to get to his feet in a court appearance Wednesday for sentencing.  

“This is an incredibly difficult case, and it starts off with just incredibly bad judgment,” the judge said. “Does that mean I think you’re evil incarnate, you’re a horrible person, and you intended this to happen? I do not, but that poor judgment led to a chain of events where there was even more poor judgment.” She added, “The circumstances are tragic any which way you look at it. There’s no way this court can make it all better. I can’t put all the pieces together. I can’t undo what was done.”

Reading the details from the arrest report and Blair’s description of the incidents, the judge said that Blair’s own actions of having Nutmeg and Jackson share a bowl led to the attack. She said that poor judgment led to the incident. “I don’t think he intended that result,” the judge said. “ It was a visceral reaction. It was a terrible reaction.”

“This isn’t a case where there was prolonged abuse of an animal or even intentional,” Blair’s attorney, Donovan Huseman Jr., told the court. “I’ve handled some animal abuse cases before that were simply horrible, beating a dog with a baseball bat and things like that. This was simply an emotional knee jerk and emotional reaction to a situation.”

Blair and his wife–soon to be ex-wife–are animal lovers, the attorney said. “It’s sad it’s come to this. It’s cost him his marriage, as the court is aware.” 

The state did not bring additional charges for injuries to Jackson, who survived abuse. Blair paid $3,400 toward the dog’s care. He will also have to pay a $2,500 mandatory fine and will have to get psychological counseling, anger management, and take the 16-hour online  16 hour Florida Animal Cruelty Education Program. He will be barred from fostering or owning animals.

He is required to stay on his medications. He takes Xanax, which concerned the judge.  “If I’’m reading between the lines, I’ve seen a substance abuse issue there,” Nichols said. 

Blair’s wife was in court. She agreed with the judge. “I do believe that if he wasn’t using Xanax and abusing it as he was,” she said, “I don’t believe this would have happened at all.” His personality had been changing over time, from using the drug. “Because of that, I would like to make sure that he does get treatment and gets help. Because, as Mr. Huseman said, we both are animal lovers, and as I told my husband, I couldn’t believe, out of everybody, that it was him that did this to her.”

“He understands the animal abuse database,” the attorney said. A new law enacted in January requires people who have been convicted of animal abuse to be identified in a publicly accessible animal abuse registry. 

Huseman had asked for a sentence that did not carry prison or jail time. He said Blair has been suicidal over the incident, knows he overreacted, and “is going to punish himself more than tis court ever could.” The attorney said this is  the only known incident of abuse or cruelty. 

“I just want him to realize that he knows how much it’s hurt, and I know he hurts, but I have to live every day wondering how she felt,” Blair’s wife said of Nutmeg. 

Blair is now living in Jacksonville. He was hoping to delay the start date of his incarceration. The judge, who had already delayed sentencing, did not allow it, and he was taken into custody.