Joseph Viles, associate professor of zoology, will be on trial Tuesday for two counts of animal neglect. The trial is scheduled at 3 p.m. in Ames City Hall.

Viles was accused of beating a dog inside his car while parked on Welch Avenue.

A future court date will be set for additional animal neglect charges Viles incurred at the Story County Justice Center, where he allegedly left two dogs chained together in his car with no food or water available to them on an 85-degree day.

“A citizen came into the sheriff’s office to report two dogs left unattended in the parking lot,” said Gary Foster, chief deputy for the Story County Sheriff’s Office, in a July 25 article in the Iowa State Daily.

“We found one inside the vehicle and another outside trying to get underneath the vehicle to get some shade.”

“Between 1995 and 1999, we had at one time or another filed 30 different charges against [Viles],” said Judy Parks, Ames city attorney, according to staff reports.

Roughly half of these charges resulted in guilty verdicts and fines ranging from $50 to $500.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was made aware of this case and has asked Assistant Story County Attorney Dan Rothman to recommend jail time in the case involving Viles leaving two dogs chained together in a car.

Martin Mersereau, cruelty case worker for PETA, said public outrage and repeat offenses alerted the organization to Viles, according to staff reports.

“We get involved in every [cruelty or neglect case] that comes our way, especially when the alleged abuser is reportedly a repeat offender,” Mersereau said.

PETA members are requesting Viles be treated as “a serial animal abuser with little or no regard for the lives and suffering of animals in his care.”

Viles has been instructed by his attorney not to speak about the charges before the upcoming trial.