MEDIA COURTHOUSE — A former Brookhaven man was sentenced to three years of probation Monday after entering open guilty pleas to two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals for the October death of beloved shelter dog Denali.
Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Alice Brennan ordered David Saxton to serve the first three months of his sentence on electronic home monitoring. He will also have to provide a DNA sample to state police.
“I can’t understand that sentence,” said Carol Lutter, a representative with animal rights group Revolution Philadelphia, outside the courtroom following the plea. “It was the lightest of the light for what he did. … He committed a heinous, horrible crime and tortured that dog to death, so probation is an insult to Denali’s life.”
Case summary
Saxton, 62, was charged Oct. 20 with cruelty to animals and aggravated cruelty to animals involving torture after Denali was killed sometime between Oct. 4 and Oct. 13 at Saxton’s former address in Brookhaven. He has reportedly since sold the home following backlash from the criminal charges.
According to prior testimony in the case, Saxton’s daughter, Erica, adopted the dog from Providence Animal Center on Aug. 26.
Humane Society Police Officer Jason Bell said in an affidavit of probable cause that Erica was told about Denali’s past known behavior history and signed a liability waiver indicating the dog may need professional behavior services.
The dog — renamed “Duncan” — allegedly began exhibiting some behavior issues after adoption and Erica Saxton filed a surrender request with the shelter Oct. 4.
She indicated in the request that Denali exhibited aggressive behavior, including an alleged bite. The family initially planned to surrender him Oct. 20, but moved the date up to Oct. 10.
When PAC contacted Erica Saxton on Oct. 9 about the impending surrender, they learned the family had intended to have Denali euthanized and made appointments with two local veterinarians, both of which were canceled, according to the complaint.
Bell testified at a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Georgia L. Stone in November that he was sent to Saxton’s home to perform a welfare check on Denali Oct. 9, but was unable to make contact. On Oct. 10, the day Denali was to be returned to the shelter, PAC received a text saying not to expect the dog to be returned.
Bell said he tried again at the Saxton residence Oct. 13, this time leaving a notice of investigation. Bell said he happened to glance into the backyard and saw a shovel.
David Saxton contacted Bell on Oct. 15 and arranged to speak to him at the Brookhaven police station on Oct. 18.
During that interview, Bell said David Saxton told him he “was not proud of what he did” and described in detail his actions leading to Denali’s death, though he was unsure of what day they took place.
Saxton told Bell he had come home from work and was taking his boots off when Denali lunged at his neck area. Saxton said he did not suffer any bites or physical injuries, according to Bell.
Bell said Saxton “snapped” in that moment, grabbed a leash from a nearby table and used it to strangle the dog with the intent of killing him.
“After Denali had fallen to the ground, Mr. Saxton related that he looked over and saw the chest rising and falling, and that the animal was gasping for air,” Bell said. “He then struck the animal with a metal candle holder object, which then broke, and then retrieved a knife from the kitchen … returned back to where the body of the dog was and then proceeded to cut its throat. He said that it wasn’t like in the movies and that it didn’t go as planned, then he recanted and stated not that he planned it, and that it was very messy and gory.”
Bell said Saxton had told him he placed the head of the dog in one trash bag and the body in another. When Bell retrieved Denali from the backyard, however, he said the head was still attached.
A necropsy later found that Denali died from “non-accidental strangulation” and the laceration had come post-mortem, according to Bell. He noted strangulation is not an approved method of euthanasia.
At that same hearing, defense counsel Christine Carey Cregar had Bell read from past caretaker notes on Denali, which indicated that he did not like cats and had been surrendered by a previous owner in February 2023 after he bit her adult daughter’s wrist twice.
Denali had been relisted for adoption in March 2023, but Cregar noted the information provided to potential adopters in that listing did not mention a previous owner or bite, only that Denali was “just saved from an overcrowded shelter in North Carolina.”
Bell said that he learned the veterinarians who were scheduled to euthanize Denali did not find his behavior was severe enough to warrant it, and that Denali had been at PAC for approximately nine months and interacted with 30 to 50 people, none of whom complained of biting or aggression during that time.
Arguments at sentencing
Assistant District Attorney Sean McNabb noted that there was a large contingent of people present for the plea on Denali’s behalf, as there had been at the preliminary hearing.
They had also been outside the courthouse earlier with signs proclaiming, “Strangulation is an abomination” and “Justice for Denali.”
“It seems too often that animal abusers and animal killers do receive sentences that are mitigated, that are probationary sentences, and that is why they (the protesters) continue to show the support that they do, and protest the mitigated sentences,” McNabb said. “So, accordingly, judge, I would ask for a period of straight incarceration. The facts here are brutal and horrific.”
McNabb noted Bell was also seeking the surrender of three other dogs in the Saxton home.
Cregar argued that Saxton has no prior convictions and no history of violence. He also adopted two of his three current dogs from PAC, she said, and has cared for dogs his entire life.
Cregar said she did not dispute the charges and entered into a stipulation that the facts contained in the affidavit are true, but noted her client fully confessed to his crimes and has cooperated with the investigation from the start.
“He did not wake up that morning with the intent to kill this dog,” Cregar said. “Unfortunately, Denali had some behavioral issues. There was a documented history of Denali biting prior owners and biting individuals in the Saxton residence.”
Cregar added that the family had contacted approximately 15 rescue shelters trying to surrender Denali without success, that Saxton has sought counseling and is complying with recommendations, and that he is assisting his mother, who was recently diagnosed with cancer.
Saxton had no comment in court.
‘Justice was not served today’
Those who had gathered outside the courthouse earlier in support of Denali reconvened crestfallen on the courthouse promenade after the plea.
“Justice was not served today, like we expected,” said animal rescuer Krystal Subers, who originally brought attention to the case and prompted the investigation by questioning Denali’s whereabouts online.
“These animals have no voice and we’re the voice for them,” Subers said. “Today was a very, very big disappointment. I was expecting some jail time.”
Subers added Saxton did not undertake just one action in trying to kill the dog, but by his own admission administered three different forms of execution over a significant time period.
“A normal person doesn’t do things like that,” she said.
Lutter said she was beyond disappointed and was heartbroken by the sentence.
“Denali deserved so much better,” she said. “He didn’t deserve to die. He wanted to live and be loved like all animals do, and for someone to be able to do this to him and walk away with a slap on the wrist is an insult to Denali’s life and to everyone who cares about animals.”
Lutter said that as long as people continue to receive lenient sentences for animal cruelty, these types of cases will persist.
“We need to stand strong and keep fighting for stricter laws and stricter punishments, and upholding the laws and the punishments as stated,” she said. “I mean, these laws are already on the books and it was not upheld today, so we are extremely disappointed and also angry that this happened.”
