No Trial For Doctor Charged With Hammering His Beagle To Death

[Dakota Valkyrie]

A South Florida doctor faces a charge of animal cruelty with intent to kill after he repeatedly hit a dog with a hammer on the head and impaled its ear and throat area with a screwdriver, authorities said.

Isaias Lerner, 66, an internist from Bay Harbor Islands, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon when two witnesses told authorities they saw him hit a brown and white dog, who was tied to a tree, with the hammer, authorities said. He was released from jail on $5,000 bond on Wednesday.

One of the witnesses told police they saw him impale the dog with a screwdriver with a grinding motion, according to the arrest affidavit. Police said the witnesses were two sanitation workers.

"The witnesses stated the dog was yelping and appeared to have brain matter emitting from its head," the arrest affidavit said.

The witnesses positively identified Lerner from photographic lineups, andhe gave a verbal and written confession.

The affidavit stated that Lerner said he "struck the dog an unknown amount of times on the head with a hammer."

He added that the dog wobbled for a while and died, affidavit said.
[....]

Allan Sjoberg, assistant chief of Bay Harbor Islands Police, said the reason for the incident was "apparently just problems with the animal and a high degree of frustration."

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/D...168653616.html

A South Florida doctor arrested and accused of torturing a dog to death last week committed suicide on Thursday, a day after being released from jail, Miami-Dade police said.
[...]

Thursday afternoon, Bay Harbor Islands police responded to a call of shooting at Lerner’s home. Arriving officers found Lerner-Biber dead inside the home. Police have ruled his death a suicide.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/ne...eating-/nR5Sj/

Dr. Isaias Lerner Biber, 65, who had an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, was found dead inside his Bay Harbor Islands home by a family member about 5:30 p.m., according to Miami-Dade County police.
[...]

The doctor told police that he was fed up with his beagle's misbehavior. He said he attacked the dog because it "was defecating and urinating in the residence and kept running away," said Bay Harbor Islands police Capt. John Robertazzi.
[...].

In the animal cruelty case, it would have been up to the state Board of Medicine to decide whether the doctor retained his medical license. Florida law says doctors are subject to discipline if they are convicted, found guilty or plead no contest to a crime linked to the practice of medicine or the ability to practice medicine.
[...]

George F. Indest III, an Orlando-area lawyer who primarily represents physicians in licensure complaints, said a key part of whether the doctor would have faced discipline hinged on whether a Florida law outlining the terms of discipline applied to his animal cruelty arrest. Lerner Biber was not a client of Indest's.

A state board may have argued that cruelty and inhumane treatment, as well as impaired judgment, hindered the doctor's ability to practice medicine and therefore merited discipline, Indest said. But the doctor could have said that the animal cruelty case didn't pertain to his duties. He could have argued he didn't abuse a person, and that there is nothing about animals in the Hippocratic Oath, which doctors take.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/bro...,6142811.story

[TheMeaningOfItAll]

Good riddance. If the dog was eliminating in the house, he could either train it to go outside or find it a new home. It's not rocket science. No need to abuse the animal. Also, can anyone blame the dog for repeatedly running away?

[Chinchillazilla]

It's awful that the dog had to die such a horrific death, and it hurts my heart to think about it. But at least the dog didn't die in vain. He gave his life so that this guy would die.

[AngelFire]

The details are horrible to read. That poor dog.

[Zazen]

Old dude is lucky the witnesses weren't the type to humanely step in and try to fucking intervene or anything. If something like that had happened in front of me, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I simply watched and reported. I keep a four-way lug wrench in my car for more than just helping to change tires D<

[Wolf_of_Mars]

The only way that sweet dog will be meeting with his/her former master at the Pearly Gates will be to wave "bye-bye" when this butt-munch takes the express elevator straight down................................. **thump ~~~ SIZZLE!**