Todd Alexander, 36, was convicted of aggravated animal cruelty by a jury on Aug. 21 after another Key Largo man found his pit bull terrier, named Diamond, inside a black trash bag with her mouth taped shut lying on the side of U.S. 1 on July 22, 2014.
Rossler freed Diamond from the plastic bag and cared for her until she was taken to an animal shelter.
Marsha Garrettson, who heads the Humane Animal Care Coalition, said the dog had a head wound that “was so severe it looked like a bullet entered the top of Diamond’s skull and traveled to damage her nasal passage,” The Herald reports.
The duct tape that was stuck around the dog’s neck may have asphyxiated her if it had stayed on, Garrettson added. The man who found her, Daniel Rossler, said that Diamond was friendly and playful despite the beating. Unfortunately, Diamond started to bleed for her nose and mouth the day after she was found and a “veterinarian determined euthanizing her was the most humane course of action,” according to The Herald.
Alexander was arrested two months later and claimed that Diamond ran away in June 2014 and he never saw her again, The Herald reports. But his ex-girlfriend testified during the trial that he beat the dog with a socket wrench.
Alexander was already on probation for a marijuana charge in July 2014 when he was arrested for animal cruelty. He also had an arrest in September 2013 for felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which gave more reason to elongate his prison time, the Herald reports.
Along with his five-year sentence, Alexander must also pay a fine of $5,000.
(Palm Beach Post - Sept 2, 2015)
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