B.C. man gets 6 months for beating puppy to death
A British Columbia man has been sentenced to six months in jail for beating a pit bull puppy to death on New Year's Day, an attack he blamed on vodka and steroids.
Brent Malcolm Connors was handed a five-month jail term for the attack on the dog and another 30 days for possessing a controlled substance.
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Connors, 24, was not the owner of three-month-old Bandit, but the dog was under his care at the time of the attack.
CTV's Rob Brown reported Wednesday that Connors, who pleaded guilty to the beating last week, admitted he flew into a rage over the fact that Bandit was not yet housebroken.
"He had been taking steroids, he was drinking, and he went into what's known as a ‘roid rage,'" Brown told CTV News Channel. "And he started beating the animal so severely that the sound of the animal whimpering drew a neighbouring resident of that motel over to the door."
Connors told the neighbour that everything was fine, closed his door and continued the beating. Other residents called police to the hotel, where they found Bandit suffering from severe injuries, including 10 broken ribs, 10 broken teeth, a broken jaw, a lacerated liver, and what appeared to be human teeth marks on his belly, Brown said. Bandit died later that day in an animal hospital.
Brown said officials with the SPCA attended Wednesday's court proceedings and were thrilled with the outcome.
"The Crown in this case had only been asking for three to four months," Brown said. "The judge decided, in his words, that this act was so despicable, morally repugnant, that (he) decided to toss the six months at this young man."
The sentence is the longest of its kind in the country for this type of crime against an animal, Brown said, and animal rights activists hope that "a message has been sent today."
In addition to serving his jail time, Connors must also undergo drug and alcohol treatment, and he is not allowed to own or live with animals for 10 years.
