CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Dog's throat cut
Tallahassee, FL (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Sep 30, 1997
County: Leon
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Ronald D. Reynolds
A man convicted of slashing a puppy's throat and throwing it into a ditch was sentenced to more than six years in prison.
Ronald D. Reynolds received the maximum sentence Friday of six and a half years in state prison. The sentence took into account his criminal history, which included theft, robbery and burglary, records show.
His latest crime of cruelty to animals "is an extension of his lack of respect for people, laws and, in this case, another living being," Leon Circuit Judge Janet Ferris said.
Reynolds, 42, was convicted in Feburary for hte October 1997 crime. The mixed-breed dog survived, but required about 200 surgical staples and stitches to close the wound. A veterinarian who treated the puppy said the cut was so deep she could see the dog's jugular vein.
Neighbors had testified they saw Reynolds grab the puppy by the scruff of the neck and hack it from ear to ear with a pocket knife.
He then walked across the street, threw the animal in a trash-filled drainage ditch, and washed the knife under an outdoor water spigot, they said.
Reynolds' attorney, Assistant Public Defender Theresa Marvin, said the client still maintains his innocence and plans to appeal the verdict.
Reynolds who did not testify at his sentencing, said the dog's previous owner, Anthony Jones, was guilty of the crime. Jones lived with Reynolds and his girlfriend at the time of the incident. Jones denies slashing the dog and was not called to testify at Reynolds' trial.
About 250 letters from dog lovers all over the country asked Ferris to impose the maximum sentence and the case was written about in the national newsletter of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The dog was adopted by Officer Mary Anderson, who calls her Scarlet and describes her as "a 60-pound lap dog." References- Associated Press Florida - April 10, 1999
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