Man who hammer-bashed his dog says he thought it was poisoned

By April Hunt

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It was lack of sleep and not taking his thyroid medicine that led Joe Waters to bash in his dog’s head with a sledgehammer last December, he claims.

The mix created a loss of reality, defense attorney Tom Clegg explained in DeKalb County Court on Tuesday. So when Waters, 48, thought his estranged wife had poisoned the dog, he believed he was putting it out of its misery with the two blows from a 12- to 14-inch hammer.

“He was doing something to the dog because he thought it needed put down, pure and simple,” Clegg said. “This is a good man who has led a good life and doesn’t need to go to prison.”

Waters has until Aug. 24 to mull the district attorney’s offer of a five-year sentence, with two to be served in prison. The offer also includes a $5,000 fine that will be directed to the Atlanta Humane Society.

If convicted of the three felony animal cruelty charges he faces, Waters could end up serving five years in prison and paying $15,000 in fines.

“Frankly, the state’s offer is gracious,” Judge Cynthia J. Becker told Waters after a pre-trial hearing Tuesday where she retired to chambers to privately listen to his 13.5-minute confession. “This is horrendous.”

Robert Kennedy found the 9-year-old dog near death in Murphey Candler Park in the early morning of Dec. 2.

The dog, then named Austin, had a severe skull fracture and hypothermia. It recovered after a week of treatment and lives as a foster dog with Kennedy, who has renamed it Murphy.

“It’s honestly an absolute miracle at this point that Murphy survived,” said assistant district attorney Jessica Harris. “I do think this is a jail-time case, for sure.”

Clegg described the dog as Waters’ constant companion from when he took the 4-month-old puppy from someone who was hitting it outside a Home Depot.

He presented Waters’ mother and sister in a bid to show the man had long had pets and had never harmed any of them.

But Waters’ reason for not taking the dog to a vet — saying he couldn’t afford it — was called into question when his mother said she would have tried to help finance care.

“He never said he didn’t have the money. He said the dog was suffering,” Dolores Waters said. “I think in his mind, he was helping.”

Waters spoke briefly, and out of turn, when Becker returned from listening to his statement. She called his comments “lucid, complete as to detail and matter-of-fact” as to what happened before, during and after the attack.

“But I hadn’t slept, your honor,” Waters began, before Becker cut him off and said she would not be as generous as the plea offer before him.

If he enters a plea, it will be before Becker on Aug. 24. If not, a trial date will be set for sometime in September.

Murphy, meanwhile, continues to receive follow-up care for his injuries. His vet bills have reached more than $10,000, paid for out of a trust fund Kennedy set up for donations following the attack.

The Australian shepherd was at home with Kennedy’s Golden Retriever, Charlie, during the pre-trial conference.