WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - A Massachusetts man who beat his girlfriend’s dog to death because it was keeping him awake has been sentenced to 2 ½ years in state prison.
Gregory Fargnoli was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to charges including animal cruelty in connection with the death in November 2015 of the 12-year-old Catahoula leopard dog.
Prosecutors say the Auburn man beat the dog with a broom handle while his girlfriend was at work. The couple had met online and the woman had moved from Louisiana to live with Fargnoli just a few weeks earlier.
A veterinarian says the dog had multiple rib fractures, multiple broken teeth, collapsed lungs, a brain bleed and external injuries.
Fargnoli was also convicted of choking his girlfriend about two weeks before the dog was killed.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.