Redwood City man pleads no contest to torturing, killing family puppy

“WTF…this guy was already on psychiatric drugs…on probation…being treated for a mental illness. The girlfriend must have known, because she was scared of him, I just hope she didn’t leave him in charge of her daughter?? Don’t the Doctors who know these people are sick, have a duty to ensure they are not a threat to others & keep an eye on those that are a threat to society? Apparently not! He is a dangerous man, the kind that enjoys torturing a little puppy, to the point of death; in front of a minor! This sick bastard should never be let out to repeat this type of thing. Bet you in 5 years time his name comes up again for doing something heinous!! Yet another case for an “Animal Abuse Register”!

By Bonnie Eslinger Daily News Staff Writer POSTED:   07/29/2014 05:52:10 AM PDT0 COMMENTS| UPDATED:   2 MONTHS AGO

A Redwood City man accused of torturing and killing a puppy in front of his young daughter has pleaded no contest to animal abuse and child endangerment charges, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

Don’t forget this evil mans face! Picture from Examiner

Alan Benjamin Velete

On Friday, 32-year-old Alan Benjamin Velete was sentenced to two years in jail, in addition to a year in a residential rehabilitation treatment center, for the cruel acts which left his family’s puppy dead. (Picture & text from http://www.examiner.com/article/man-who-tortured-puppy-front-of-young-child-is-sentenced-to-jail?CID=PROD-topic-email-articles

In exchange for Friday’s plea, Alan Benjamin Velete, 32, won’t receive more than three years in prison. He also pleaded no contest to violating his probation for a 2011 felony assault conviction.

He was arrested Jan. 9 on charges that stem from a pattern of violence over several weeks against his family’s terrier puppy, named “Lucky,” that ended with the 4-month-old dog’s death, according to the district attorney’s office.

The abuse began after Velete and his daughter moved into the Redwood City apartment of his girlfriend’s mother in early December. The man became incensed after the puppy defecated on the floor and over several weeks he tortured the animal, including punching and kicking it, spraying household cleaner in its eyes, putting it in a duffel bag that was hung in a shower for hours, taping its mouth closed and feeding it his psychiatric drugs, according to the district attorney’s office. Much of the harm was done in front of his daughter.

His girlfriend and her mother later said they were too terrified of Velete to contact law enforcement, according to prosecutors. But after Velete killed the puppy, the mother anonymously called police.

Velete’s defense attorney, Naresh Rajan, said his client was being treated for mental illness at the time of the abuse and was under a lot of stress, and he has since “expressed all kinds of remorse” for his actions. While in county jail, he’s been receiving help through a counseling program.

“It’s horrible, it’s a 4-month old puppy,” Rajan said. “There’s no excuse, but he wasn’t thinking with a normal person’s mind.” ” Then why was he allowed into society???”

News Link:-http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_26233265/redwood-city-man-pleads-no-contest-torturing-killing

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• Man convicted of torturing dog in front of daughter (sfgate.com)

G.I. Man Faces 2 Felonies For Killing Dog With Hammer

A Grand Island man has been charged with two felonies for beating a 6-month-old puppy to death with a ball-peen hammer.

Michael J. Berst, 26, of 2408 W. First appeared in Hall County Court via video conference Monday morning. He was charged with the cruel neglect of an animal resulting in serious injury or death and tampering with physical evidence for the April 15 incident involving a pit bull terrier mix named Buddy.

In court, Deputy Hall County Attorney Nancy Berger-Schneider said someone saw Berst tossing what appeared to be an animal’s body in a trash bin. That person notified authorities, and animal control officers from the Central Nebraska Humane Society responded and retrieved the puppy’s body from the trash. Authorities determined the puppy belonged to Berst’s family, she said.

The animal had been killed by blows to the head from a ball-peen hammer, she said.

When questioned by police, Berst admitted killing his family’s dog, she said.

According to online records from the Hall County Jail, Berst was arrested at his home on Sunday.

Berger-Schneider asked for a bond of 10 percent of $100,000 due to the “heinous nature” of the crime and because Berst has previously failed to appear in court when required in another case. Hall County Judge Art Wetzel granted the request.

Prior to the setting of his bond, Berst said he thought he could hire his own attorney. Wetzel told him that if he’s unable to hire an attorney, he can request court-appointed counsel and fill out a financial affidavit for the court to review.

Berst’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. June 11. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each felony.

According to court records, Berst’s criminal history in Hall County includes charges of aiding and abetting a felony and misdemeanor theft in 2005, misdemeanor criminal mischief in 2006 and driving under suspension in 2011.

Laurie Dethloff, Central Nebraska Humane Society executive director, said, as far as she knew, animal control officers hadn’t investigated Berst for animal cruelty in the past.

In this case, they were called by a woman who was concerned when she saw a man throwing an animal’s body away. Humane Society staff was later contacted by someone who’d spoken to Berst about the dog’s death. That led to an investigation, she said.

She said it was her understanding that Berst told police officers he had struck the dog because he was angry at the animal for relieving himself on the floor.

Dethloff praised the two people who contacted the Humane Society with information in this case. She said hearing from the public is key in building many of the neglect and abuse cases animal control officers investigate.

“We’re starting to see more suspicious stuff,” she said. “The neglect we are seeing has accelerated over the last six to nine months. It’s unnerving.”

 His pretrial is scheduled for July 17.

News Link:–http://www.kearneyhub.com/news/regional_news/g-i-man-faces-felonies-for-killing-dog-with-hammer/article_d05e5ac0-ac25-11e2-8c7f-001a4bcf887a.html

Man Who Dragged Newborn Calf From Mother, Spared Jail

Dino Cheleman, 48, who used a digger to drag a newborn calf from its mother, has been spared jail. 

The Arderley man was accused of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal – a red poll heifer breed of cow – in March 2012.

He has now been banned from working with animals for 5 years, was given a 16-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months, was ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £280.

News Link:-http://danimalnews.com/news/2013/06/19/DinoCheleman-Dragged-Newborn-Cow.html

Animal Abuser Given Probation

“WTF…WHY ARE ANIMAL ABUSERS BEING LET OFF SO LIGHTLY?? This man pleaded no contest to drug and multiple animal cruelty charges while his wife continues to face trial for chaining their malnourished pit bulls in their own filth…Deputies saw a very skinny brown pit bill dog tied to a large chain barking at me,” one deputy wrote in his report. Then observed a very skinny black pit bull dog lying on its side, and it appeared to be dead…I observed the black dog lift its head and look at me though due to the dog being so skinny from lack of food, the dog could not stand up.”

Both dogs were “malnourished to the point of starvation”, according to an arrest report, with access to “old nasty water” and no food. Both dogs were tied to heavy chains and were surrounded by flies.

YET a Judge gave him probation…where is the justice??”

John Oswald, 30, pleaded no contest on Tuesday to two counts causing death, pain or suffering to animals and one count unlawful confinement or abandonment of animals. His arrest came after Escambia County sheriff’s deputies found two pit bulls sitting in their own filth, shackled with heavy chains and with bugs crawling all over them behind his home on U.S. 29. 

The same day, another deputy shot and killed a dog, an arrest report says, and neighbors said the aggressive pit bull belonged to the Oswalds.

Oswald also pleaded no contest Tuesday to a marijuana charge, as investigators found marijuana growing in his backyard, according to his arrest report.

State Attorney Bill Eddins said his office had asked that Oswald serve 11 months and 15 days in the Escambia County Jail as a stipulation of his probation.

But Circuit Judge Gary Bergosh, who withheld adjudication on all charges, felt that Oswald only needed to be placed on probation for three years, according to court records.

“It’s our policy to take a very firm position in these animal cruelty cases, particularly where the extent of cruelty is this significant,” Eddins said, explaining that prosecutors would have accepted a plea where no jail time would be served.

“There was more than one animal involved, and there were other charges as well involving the marijuana.” “So WTF was this animal abusers let off for?? what does that say to other would-be animal abusers?? This is so wrong…it stinks…this is not taking a firm position against animal abusers…it’s letting them get off Scott free…this is a down right in-justice. Judge Gary Bergosh needs to booted off the judicial system!!”

Another case concerning Judge Gary Bergosh…

This is the second time this week that Bergosh has gone below the sentences asked for by prosecutors. The other case involved 27-year-old Michael Davis, who was convicted of manslaughter late last year in the shooting death of 16-year-old Alonzo Knight Jr. “I would suggest this Bergosh buggers off out of the Judicial system then, as he obviously does not uphold the same values as normal people; who view these as heinous crimes”

On Tuesday, prosecutors asked for Davis to be sentenced to 30 years in prison, the maximum recommended by the state Department of Corrections. Instead, Bergosh handed down a six-year prison sentence, infuriating Knight’s family. “I am not surprised…this is disgraceful,  a boys life only warrants 6 years from the offender

The minimum recommended sentence for the manslaughter charge is 10 years.

Prosecutors said they will appeal that sentence.

The case against John Oswald’s wife, 34-year-old Amanda Oswald, is still pending. She is set to appear in court today, and Eddins said prosecutors will be asking for a continuance so they can talk to John Oswald and get more information about the case.

News Link:–http://www.pnj.com/article/20130117/NEWS01/301170028/Pensacola-animal-abuser-gets-probation-prosecutors-wanted-jail-time?nclick_check=1

Related:-Molino Husband Pleads To Drug, Animal Cruelty Charges; Wife Facing Trial

• http://www.northescambia.com/2013/01/molino-husband-pleads-to-drug-animal-cruelty-charges-wife-facing-trial
  

Porn star, Shane Thompson, Jailed For Killing His Dog: Video Posted Separately

“Please see Video posted to Twitter & Face Book about this despicable act of brutality to his own dog!”

BOCA RATON, FL (CBS12) — A man, who authorities say is a porn star from Boca Raton, has turned himself in to start serving a sentence for animal cruelty.

In November, Shane Thompson, 22, pled guilty to beating his dog to death and had until this week to turn himself in. Thompson went by the name Jason Creed in porn videos.

Authorities said in October 2010, he beat to death his one-year-old dog named Moonshine. Moonshine was part wolf, part dog. Investigators said Thompson took the dog’s body to a veterinary clinic in Boca Raton to have the dog’s body cremated. But Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control got a tip that Moonshine had died as a result of abuse.

Before the cremation took place, they got the dog’s remains from the vet, did a necropsy and found Moonshine was beaten multiple times and had several fractures and bruises.

Thompson pled guilty to animal cruelty. Although the charge carries a maximum five years in prison, he got three months in the county jail. The head of Animal Care and Control is not satisfied with that sentence. “Neither am I, WTF are these judges thinking…3 months?”?

“I believe the prosecutors work very hard for us. But this is a case I am really disappointed in. I certainly think that three months is laughable,” said Dianne Sauve, Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control director. “It is disgraceful that a man can beat a dog to death & only get 3 months jail…bloody shop lifters would get more!”

Sauve said Thompson should have been sentenced to at least one year behind bars, and should have been ordered not to have contact with animals for the rest of his life.

She said after he does three months in jail, followed by three years probation, he can legally have another pet dog again, which she finds unacceptable. “It is totally unacceptable; I’m starting to think some judges just don’t like dogs, or they don’t have the balls to use the sentences available to them!”

News Link:-http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/291344/19/Boca-Raton-porn-star-jailed-for-animal-cruelty

Convicted Puppy Killer Faces Judge Again

“They should have put him & the other little shit in jail for a long time, for torturing & killing the little puppy first time round; I’m sick of hearing about the twat! Fxxxxxg psychopaths like this don’t suddenly go on the straight & narrow; he will be in trouble for the rest of his life, which means either animals or humans will suffer!”

DRESDEN, Tenn. – The West Tennessee teenager convicted of animal cruelty is back in court again to face a judge after his latest arrest.

Wednesday’s hearing for Preston Odle stems from another arrest last month, and residents told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News they are not happy with the teen’s punishment.

“I think it’s pretty stupid,” said resident Jaylee Elsea. “I mean, if you’re already in trouble, why would you do it again?”

Odle pleaded guilty to torturing and killing a Saint Bernard puppy last September, and on Wednesday he pleaded guilty to a new charge – contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

“There again. That just shows you, you know, one more strike he’s supposed to be out, but he won’t be. Not in this county,” said resident Sue Box.

Odle was arrested in December for possession of a weapon by a felon.

According to court papers, he and several other juveniles were hunting for deer, though Odle claimed he was only driving. The state dropped that weapon charge.

“I think what he did is horrible,” Elsea said. “Killing a dog is practically like killing a person. It’s wrong.”

Residents said his punishment for both crimes was not harsh enough.

“Because I think it’ll go on to other things because he got by with this, so he will continue,” Box said.

Officials said if Odle is found guilty of violating his probation later this month, he could get one to two years in jail. “Yea & pigs might fly!”

On Wednesday, the judge sentenced him to 45 days in jail for the contributing to the delinquency of a minor charge.

Odle’s next hearing is on January 17 in Weakley County Circuit Court

News Link:–http://www.wbbjtv.com/news/local/Convicted-Puppy-Killer-Faces-Judge-Again-185482972.html

Feds Bring First Case Under New ‘Animal Crush’ Video Law

A Houston man and woman were indicted Wednesday for producing “animal crush” videos, the first federal case brought under the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010, which was passed after the Supreme Court ruled that a previous version of the law violated the First Amendment.

The U.S. attorney in southern Texas charged Ashley Nicole Richards, 22, and Brent Justice, 51, who are already facing state animal cruelty charges, with producing eight videos that allegedly involve the torture and killing of puppies, chickens and kittens, according a release from the federal prosecutor’s office. Richards and Justice face five counts of animal crush charges and two obscenity charges.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office of Southern Texas confirmed the Houston case is the first in the nation brought under the revised law.

In April 2010, the Supreme Court decided 8-1 in U.S. v. Stevens to strike down Section 48 of Title 18 of U.S. Code as unconstitutional.

The code, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion of the court, penalized “anyone who knowingly ‘creates, sells, or possesses a depiction of animal cruelty,’ if done ‘for commercial gain’ in interstate or foreign commerce.”

That case involved a man who sold videos of dogfighting and of dogs attacking other animals. He challenged his indictment on the grounds that Section 48 violated the First Amendment.

Though the government argued the code was necessary for cases of “animal crush” and animal fighting videos, the court held “a law may be invalidated as overboard if ‘a substantial number of its applications are unconstitutional.’” The court, therefore, did not discuss whether animal crush videos were a special case that could warrant an exception to the First Amendment.

“We … need not and do not decide whether a statute limited to crush videos or other depictions of extreme animal cruelty would be constitutional,” Roberts wrote for the court.

The court invalidated the law altogether as overboard, prompting Congress in September of that year to pass the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010, which specifically prohibited animal crush videos and defined them as “any photograph, motion picture, film, video or digital recording, or electronic image that:

(1) depicts actual conduct in which one or more living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians is intentionally crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury;

(2) is obscene.

The “and obscene” provision would be key if the statute were challenged anew, said First Amendment expert and University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone.

“[Congress] passed this very complicated law that does not add anything to the scope of what is criminal,” Stone told POLITICO. “So as long as we stipulate that the material has to be obscene to be prosecuted under the statute, then why don’t you just prosecute you under the obscenity statute?”

The reference to obscenity also appears to limit the statute’s application in several ways, including limiting it to videos that are sexual in nature.

Stone believes that if the case were to be brought to the highest court, the question at issue would be whether there is a legitimate reason to distinguish this type of obscenity from others.

With free speech restrictions, the government cannot constitutionally pick and choose what type of speech to restrict based solely on its content, as established in the hate speech case R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul.

Stone compares the animal crush statute to a law creating higher penalties for purveyors of homosexual obscenity as opposed to non-homosexual obscenity – the government in both cases would need to show why the distinction serves a societal necessity.

Stone said in defence of the law, as in the comparable issue of child pornography, sometimes the government punishes selling depictions of something cruel to take away the incentive for individuals to commit the cruelty in order to profit off of it.

The animal crush statute carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison; the obscenity statute carries up to five.

News Link:-http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2012/11/feds-bring-first-case-under-new-animal-crush-video-150700.html?hp=r2

Cumbrian Man 25, Jailed For Child & Animal Porn

“Yet another sexual predator of the worst kind, these malevolent creatures have no thought or feeling for anyone or anything. They certainly have no empathy for little children; so harming animals is of no consequence to them. Many psychiatric reports state, that these depraved minds, start off by abusing animals.  Putting these perverts on the Sexual Register is of course warranted, children need the highest protection there is, nothing is more sacred than the innocence of a child!”

“Of course, animals need protecting too, sentient beings, voiceless, innocent, the perfect victims…they also need protecting from these corrupt & harmful degenerates. It is a well-known fact, the FBI now see the correlation between those who have abused animals, will usually turn to human victims. They probably set out in life on a very rough hard road, perhaps they were even abused themselves! If so, without help, their anger at being humiliated, touched, usually by a family member, stirs so much pent-up anger, that something blow’s; unfortunately animals are usually the closet thing at hand, & they won’t tell, which is perfect; to start with!”

“The poor voiceless animals are perfect to use, the family dog or cat can’t tell anyone! Therefore they are used as sexual instruments, for experimenting on, learning about pain levels & easy way’s to hurt them, without anyone noticing! Before long it becomes a habit, an addiction, but each time the pain they inflict on the animal will be worse than the last. The more fear & hurt they cause the animal, the better the abuser feels; almost empowered, through his own perverse actions, he will release his own anger & vengeful hatred he has of people & the world! It won’t be long before he kill’s an animal & the rush of excitement & adrenalin he get’s from it…means he is at his most dangerous!  

“As the law stands, sadly Animal Abuse Registers are not mandatory in any Country! But I truly believe if they were, certain lives would not have been shattered; the police would have known about offenders & those offenders, knowing they were being watched; would be a great deterrent. Not only that, both the Sex Offenders List & the Animal Abuse Register could be synchronised, therefore flagging up potential names that have been added to both. A mirror image of the Sex offenders list, in fact it could be the Sex offenders list, but called the Animal Abuse Register…all the data would be the same on both registers, name, address, police records etc. but most importantly a picture of the abuser. If the database was shared throughout veterinary offices, animal shelters, anywhere where animals may turn up to be treated or adopted…if incorporated correctly, I’m sure, animal abusers would be caught; & perhaps a child’s life saved. 

The police use the Sex offenders list to keep an eye on would be molesters etc. Why couldn’t the police use the same tactics to catch these degenerates with animals, convict them, give them a taste of Jail…then hopefully the offender would have been saved in time, before they turn to children…who knows! 

“Did you know,  not all vets have to tell the police if they receive an animal they fear has been abused, depends where they live…that’s another area that need’s addressing. I would hope that most vets, out of a sense of duty, would involve the police in any case they were suspicious of!”

“There is absolutely nothing to lose by trying out Animal Abuse Registers. Animal abuse is a proven predictor of violent behaviour. The FBI considers past animal abuse not only as a predictor of human violence, but uses it when profiling serial killers.”  

“One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it.” -Anthropologist Margaret Mead”

Please sign this petition to implement registry’s:–http://www.change.org/petitions/european-parliament-implement-an-animal-abuser-registry

A man who downloaded and stored videos and more than 1,500 indecent images of child and animal pornography featuring “real exploitation of the grossest form” has been sent to prison.

Samuel William Clark, 25, of Salterbeck Drive, Workington, pleaded guilty to all 26 charges, including three of possessing images of the highest severity and two of possessing extreme pornography videos featuring animals.

On June 25 of this year police executed a search warrant and seized a laptop, computer and mobile phone belonging to Clark, as well as a number of storage disks.

They discovered more than 1,500 images that Clark had downloaded from file sharing programmes and internet searches.

Defence barrister Greg Hoare said that Clark downloaded and viewed the images “because he was getting bored” and that he was not aroused by them.

The images included pornography of severity levels one to five of children under 13, severity levels one to five of children under 16, and several videos.

Sentencing, Judge Paul Batty said told Clark: “The material featured exploitation of children, some under the age of five. “Certain people should just be extinguished”

“It was real exploitation of the grossest form.

“Unusually, you had gone to the trouble of downloading a considerable amount of it onto disks and that is an added aspect. “He was probably planning to sell them”

“The fact that you were in possession of extreme pornography, the likes of which many people will never have viewed, means I am unable to suspend the prison sentence.”

Clark was sentenced to 12 months in prison, given a sexual prevention order for an indefinite term to prevent him having access to the internet, prohibited from having unsupervised contact with anyone under 16, disqualified from working with children and put on the sex offenders register for 10 years. “Where is the ‘ Not allowed to own animals’??

News Link:–http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/cumbrian-man-25-jailed-for-child-and-animal-porn-1.1010318?referrerPath=news

White Watch: Man Guilty Of Sex With Miniature Horse And Rape, Gets 3 Years In Jail

“WTF…how can anyone be charged with 15 years yet only do 3 when that person has admitted to the heinous offenses? Why did the judge dismiss animal abuse & domestic violence when he admitted to doing it; the women he raped has to live with that all her life! What is it with these plea deals & bargains, just who do they help? certainly not the victims.”

“This man will be out of prison soon, do you think he will be a changed man? I fear not! I think there has to be Animal Abuse Registry’s set up in every state & town, interlinked so people like this can’t get their hands on animals. I also think that bestiality, sodomy, zoophilia should be incorporated into Brommels 5 Freedoms to further protect animals & help gain tougher charges; they have such little protection as it is.”

White Man Guilty Of Sex With Miniature Horse And Rape, Gets 3 Years In Jail…Just 3 years….

A Wilmer, Ala. man admitted to raping a woman and sexually abusing a miniature horse  on Tuesday in a plea deal that will allow his release in less than two years.

AL.com reports that Eric Steven Easley  was sentenced to three years in prison, but he’s already spent 14 months in jail, meaning with time served, he’ll be out in 22 months. He was technically sentenced to 15 years, but the deal stipulated that all but three of those be suspended.

The site notes that neither Easley, the prosecuting attorney nor judge Joseph “Rusty” Johnston seemed fully satisfied with the plea deal, which the prosecution claimed it offered because there were “legal issues” surrounding Easley’s rape victim.

Easley was arrested  in July 2011 after a woman said he broke into her home, raped her and held her for several hours against her will, according to a previous story by AL.com.

In 2010, deputies in Mobile, Ala. said they found evidence that a miniature horse’s tail had been tied to a post and the horse had been sexually abused, according to the Weekly Vice.

Deputies found a wallet with Easley’s driver’s license and Social Security card at the scene.

Judge Johnston dismissed animal cruelty and domestic violence charges as part of the plea deal, but Easley admitted to the charges of rape and killing or disabling livestock

News Link:-http://whitewatch.info/2012/10/11/guilty-of-sex-with-miniature-horse-and-rape-gets-3-years-in-jail-.aspx

Stiff Sentence Imposed For Man Who Abused Pug

“I would hardly call this a stiff sentence, but it’s a start if jail hasn’t been given before...the maximum sentence for animal cruelty is now set at five years…yet this heinous crime only warranted six months prison for Laberge? My god, I dread to think what one has to do to warrant the maximum five years; if these dogs had died from their wounds I doubt it would have been five years. Surely this heartless monster deserved, at the very minimum, one year in jail, along with a life long ban on owning any animals.

MONTREAL—Last August, Geoffrey Laberge’s neighbours heard the sounds of dogs being beaten and abused.

On Friday, a Quebec judge handed Laberge the stiffest sentence ever meted out for animal cruelty in the province.

When police arrived at the corner of Pie-IX and 55th Avenue in 2011, they found one of Laberge’s dogs covered in blood. The three-year-old pug had been stabbed multiple times, beaten with a lead pipe and shards of ceramic were poking through her fur.

This pug-mix suffered trauma to the head, including a number of stab wounds, shards from a broken ceramic plate, and being beaten by an iron pipe.

Laberge, 37, will now spend six months in jail after he pleaded guilty to five counts of animal cruelty. Both the defence and crown recommended a sentence that also forbids him from owning an animal for the next quarter century.

“Up until Friday there really was no deterrent effect,” said Alanna Devine, the SPCA’s director of animal advocacy. “Even in egregious cases of animal cruelty when people were found guilty and being sentenced, they  weren’t getting jail time.”

Both dogs have since made a full recovery and have been adopted by new homes. The story of Roo, the abused pug, stood out for Devine.

“It’s difficult for us to not get emotional,” said Devine, who was present when the dog was brought to the SPCA. “One of the dogs was in such a critical state that we felt she needed emergency treatment.”

Roo was rushed to an animal hospital in Notre-Dame-de-Grace where veterinarians were not sure if the dog would survive the night. Devine credited the cooperation of the Montreal police, SPCA and first responders for helping save the dog.

After an amendment to the criminal code in 2008, the maximum sentence for animal cruelty is now set at five years. Devine would like to see the maximum sentence imposed in more egregious cases.

Quebec has had a spotty past prosecuting animal cruelty, with a US-based animal rights group ranking the province the best place to abuse animals for 2010 and 2011.

“This is going to have a deterrent effect going forward that the judicial system in Quebec is starting to take animal cruelty seriously,” said Devine.

Video & News Link: http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/stiff-sentence-imposed-for-man-who-abused-pug-1.1014317#ixzz2AhL4YsnJ