Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said Wednesday he plans to refile a felony charge against a West Virginia man accused of repeatedly hitting a dog with a sledgehammer.

The announcement comes just a day after an assistant prosecutor from his office agreed to reduce a charge of felony aggravated cruelty to an animal against John G. Riordan, 47, of Rock Cave, to a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty.

“That was done without my approval or consultation, and that’s not acceptable. I’m unhappy with what happened,” Goldinger said, adding “An egregious act was committed, allegedly, on this dog. We’re going to seek justice.”

Russ Karl, an assistant district attorney, made the decision to change the felony charge Tuesday at the office of District Judge Lewis Stoughton in Chicora, shortly before Riordan’s preliminary hearing.

State police arrested Riordan Sept. 21 after they say he attacked Jason Anthony’s 13-year-old springer spaniel Bailey with a sledgehammer while staying at the home of Anthony, his former friend, on Green Manor Drive in Summit Township.

This is an excerpt from an article that will appear in Thursday’s Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.