Vancouver man accused of animal cruelty appears in court

A Vancouver man is accused of throwing his former girlfriend’s chickens and ducklings over a fence — killing and injuring at least some of the animals — in what court records describe as a drunken rage.

Daniel Lee Edward Printz, 32, appeared Monday via video in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree animal cruelty. His bail was set at $25,000, court records show.

Police were called at about 6:15 a.m. Friday for a domestic disturbance in the 7400 block of Northwest First Avenue. The victim reported that her former boyfriend, identified as Printz, had returned to her residence intoxicated, and was throwing her chickens and ducklings over a fence into a neighboring apartment complex, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Printz had reportedly fled the residence the night before when police were called to a malicious mischief report, the affidavit says.

The victim and her neighbor said they both saw Printz throwing the animals over the fence. A chicken died after landing on a concrete pad, and a duck’s leg was injured, the victim told police. She was unable to find her chicks, and police said they were not expected to survive, court records state.

Police said Printz initially denied throwing the animals, but when arrested, he asked if it would have been legal to kill the animals if he intended to eat them, according to the court document.

“I asked if he was telling me that he planned to eat the animals he had thrown over the fence, and he said, ‘If they died, I would eat them,'” the officer wrote in the affidavit.

Printz is scheduled to be arraigned July 24.