A man in Ithaca recently slit his dog's throat, left it to die and only got three years probation.
Posted on 12/19/2002 7:12:51 PM PST by Dallas
NEW YORK --
A man who threw his girlfriend's dog off her 23rd-floor balcony was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison for animal cruelty and other charges related to stalking the woman.
John Jefferson, 43, pleaded guilty Dec. 5 to robbery, burglary, stalking, criminal contempt and animal cruelty. The judge said two of the 12 years were for the dog, Ribsy.
"I've had pets all my life," Justice James Yates said. "I was just as sickened as anyone else when I read the stories."
The judge also ordered five years of parole supervision for Jefferson and signed an order of protection that directs him to stay away from ex-girlfriend Eugenia Miller for the next 17 years.
Jefferson tossed the 16-year-old black and white terrier-poodle mix to its death on May 26 during an argument with Miller. Ribsy landed in the concrete plaza below and died instantly.
Jefferson also barricaded himself inside the apartment and threatened Miller with a knife, police said at the time.
"I am sorry," Jefferson said in court Thursday. "I was totally messed up, emotionally disturbed. I just lost it."
Jefferson pleaded guilty to burglary in connection with his forcible entry into the apartment, and his plea to the robbery charge was for a May 22 knifepoint holdup. The stalking charge arose from his harassment of Miller earlier.
Jefferson's lawyer, Russell Paisley, said his client's actions were those of someone under the influence of drugs.
Damn cruel thing of him to do, the woman is lucky it wasn't her he tossed of the balcony.
It's still a damn cruel thing to do.
I'm so sick of that lame excuse. It's no excuse at all. Sounds like the judge agrees with me.
A man in Ithaca recently slit his dog's throat, left it to die and only got three years probation.
Sorry, but a guy who does this would have done it to a person (probably a kid) sooner or later. Putting him in prison keeps him from doing so for about 12 years (with time off for good behavior probably).
Now, if it had been a CAT, it would in all probability have survived!
I know of one cat who fell from the 22nd floor in Manhattan. The cat survived and was as good as new within six months.
The owner became a nervous wreck!
I'm so sick of that lame excuse. It's no excuse at all. Sounds like the judge agrees with me.
It's another sorry excuse of a person that doesn't want to take responsiblity. Would you have been surprised to hear him say "it's not really my fault, I have been feeling bad, people don't like me, and I just lost it.".
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