November 5, 2007 INDIANA Former County Officer Pleads Guilty to Cruelty for Killing Girlfriend's Dog A former St. Joseph County police officer pleaded guilty Monday to charges of animal cruelty in the 2005 killing of a dog, an incident that attracted national attention. Curt Seufert, 33, who worked as a road patrol officer, admitted to killing his girlfriend's Akita in November 2005 after an argument he had with her. His girlfriend, a South Bend police officer, came home to find one of her dogs cowering in an upstairs bedroom and the other dead in the basement. The dead dog had a broken leg and back. The case attracted the attention of the Humane Society of the United States and the late comedian Richard Pryor, among others, who sent letters of outrage to local law enforcement. Seufert faces up to on year in prison and a $5,000 fine. He is to be sentenced Dec. 12.