A Duncan man has been sentenced to four months in jail for beating his 16-week-old puppy to death.
Robert Carolan is also banned from owning animals for a decade after it was found his puppy Dux had suffered severed blunt force trauma.
Carolan had told police that Dux had accidentally drowned after he left him in a bathtub and went for a cigarette.
But authorities grew suspicious after he could not explain why the puppy was bleeding and had other injuries.
A necropsy found that Dux, a mixed-breed puppy, had suffered blunt force trauma to his head and right rib and there were signs of pneumothorax, a trauma-induced condition that stops an animal’s lungs from fully inflating.
“I think jail time is absolutely warranted in a case this heinous,” said B.C. SPCA’s Marcie Moriarty.
“It is heart-breaking to think of how much this poor puppy suffered and the terror he would have experienced before succumbing to his injuries.”
The puppy was also found to have had fractures on three of its ribs.
Carolan has also been issued a victim surcharge fine of $100 and a three-year probation to follow his four-month jail sentence.