Judge hands down three-year sentence in puppy death

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a man to three years in prison for tossing a puppy from the third-floor balcony of a North Charleston apartment.

Circuit Judge Edward Cottingham says he had to send a message about animal cruelty during the sentencing yesterday.

Twenty-two-year-old Javon Patrick Morris had pleaded guilty earlier to animal cruelty. The puppy, a Yorkiepoo, was in a soft-sided container when it was tossed off the balcony last March
while Morris was arguing with his girlfriend.

The animal suffered head injuries and had to be put to death.

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