Judge gives dog abuser 1 year in prison

Steven Boos, the convicted animal abuser who fled the state before serving his 30-day prison sentence for repeatedly injuring and nearly killing a small silky terrier, told a judge that he simply played too rough with the 7-1/2-pound dog and didn’t mean to harm the pet.

“I know everything that I did with her every day was excessive,” said Boos, who was extradited to Hawaii after fleeing to the mainland. He said he received death threats following news of his conviction. “I have three children over in Germany that I miss a lot, and I play rough. I’ve grown up in sports. I know what I did with Tulip. I know that you play with a bigger dog like this. Never have I hurt my dog on purpose.”

But District Court Judge Myron Takemoto did not buy his story, which has repeatedly changed, and ordered him to serve the maximum one-year prison term, the longest sentence for second-degree cruelty to animals, due to the severity of the injuries.

Boos earlier pleaded no contest for abusing his then- girlfriend’s dog, Tulip, over a six-month period from May through October 2017. The abuse resulted in head trauma, pelvic fractures, broken ribs and other wounds that were so bad that the dog’s right hind leg needed to be amputated and a metal plate was implanted to stabilize her pelvis because she could not stand. Even after that the dog returned to the vet with injuries including re-fractures of the bone and a displaced metal plate.

“You didn’t do anything to demonstrate remorse for what you did in this case. Playing soccer with a 6-pound dog, that’s ridiculous,” Takemoto said. “If you did these injuries to a human being, you’d be in Halawa right now. Pets are not just animals. Pets are part of one’s family … so when there’s beating of animals and beating of pets, you’re beating family members.”

The judge told Boos that the abuse is “inexcusable, egregious and frankly shocking.”

Boos was supposed to begin his 30-day sentence on July 23, 2018, and was extradited following an anonymous tip to the Hawaiian Humane Society.

“Clearly, the judge didn’t find that statement believable. Everybody knows how to treat animals,” said Daniel Roselle, director of community relations for the Hawaiian Human Society. “For us this is a remarkable sentence from the judge … and we are grateful for the message that it sends.”

Deputy Prosecutor Jan Futa said Boos has never admitted to beating Tulip, who was at the mercy of her owners. Instead he made excuses including that the dog fell off the couch, was hit by a car or was accidentally sat upon or stepped on, she said.

“You do not play with a dog so that it gets broken bones, a broken pelvis so it has to have its leg amputated, so it has broken ribs — that is outrageous,” she told the judge. “Even now he’s refusing to take responsibility of his actions — that’s inexcusable.”