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A dog beaten, choked and concealed beneath debris along a Fairfax County trail survived with help from a resident, police officers and veterinarians. But after an 18-month court case, the animal’s owner was found not guilty of felony cruelty.

The dog, now named Noodles, is living in foster care and is expected to become available for adoption.

The case began in October 2023, when resident Jack Paul encountered a couple camping with a dog in woods behind his home. After they said the dog was hungry, Paul left to get food and water.

When he returned within an hour, the couple and their campsite were gone. Paul instead heard an animal breathing heavily beneath rocks, clothing and brush. He contacted Fairfax County’s Animal Protection Police.

Body-camera footage shown during the April 22 circuit court trial captured Animal Protection Police Officer A.M. DeMilio hurrying along the trail. Loud, strained breathing could be heard as she approached a pile covered with a blanket.

DeMilio pulled away rocks, leaves, brush, pieces of cloth and a stuffed teddy bear while reassuring the barely moving dog. Blood was visible on the animal’s head and nearby stones.

Unable to lift the injured dog safely, DeMilio ran to her police van for a stretcher. A neighbor helped carry the dog to the vehicle, and DeMilio rushed him to Pender Veterinary’s emergency facility.

Dr. George Mikhael met the van and found the dog in significant pain and struggling to breathe. The animal needed sedation, intubation and oxygen. His injuries included a fracture below an eye, swelling of the eye and blood filling his airways. Mikhael said the injuries were consistent with beating and choking.

The dog faced a high risk of death, but treatment from Mikhael and Dr. Rebecca Spear over several days saved his life.

Owner claimed he acted in self-defense

The owner testified that the dog attacked him without provocation and bit his arm. He said neither he nor his female companion could make the dog release, leading him to strike the animal’s head with a rock and choke him.

The bite left scars and required five or six stitches. The owner said he believed the dog was dead when the couple dismantled their campsite and went to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Hospital staff reported the bite as required. A second animal protection officer who responded said the owner was uncooperative and would not reveal where the dog was. Authorities only later connected the bite report with the critically injured animal found in the woods.

The owner said he covered the dog because he thought the animal was dead and tied him to a tree in case he regained consciousness and bit someone else. He testified that he did not seek veterinary care because he believed the dog had died.

His female companion did not appear at the trial. Police officers, veterinarians and animal shelter employees who dealt with the dog during the case reported no aggressive behavior.

Judge Timothy J. McEvoy found several parts of the owner’s account not credible. He inferred that the dog might have reacted to protect the woman, with whom the animal shared a strong bond.

Prosecutors argued that the case involved two forms of cruelty: unnecessarily severe striking and choking, followed by the decision to cover the gravely injured dog and leave him to die in pain.

McEvoy agreed that torture had occurred and called the abandonment “reprehensible.” However, he accepted the defense argument that the beating happened during the dog’s attack and acknowledged the owner’s claim of self-defense.

The judge said the applicable law does not criminalize abandonment and that failing to obtain veterinary treatment did not meet the standard for felony cruelty. He acquitted the owner.

The ruling followed hearings, continuances and grand jury proceedings that stretched across a year and a half before the April 22 and 23 circuit court trial.

A woman arrested Oct. 12, 2023, in connection with the same incident faced a misdemeanor animal-cruelty charge as an accessory to the alleged felony. On June 24, 2024, she was found guilty in absentia, fined $2,000 plus court costs and prohibited from owning companion animals.

Ownership of the dog was surrendered to the Fairfax County Animal Shelter in 2024. Formerly known by another name, Noodles is now recovering in a foster home and is expected to be offered for permanent adoption soon.