David Etzel, a Florida man convicted of drunkenly biting his mother's dog and squeezing the animal so hard that its eye popped out, was sentenced to a year in prison on Friday.
A jury convicted the 37-year-old of felony animal cruelty last week in connection with the April incident involving his mother's
Shih Tzu Cujo, according to the Palm Beach Post. In addition to the year sentence, Judge Barry Cohen also gave Etzel probation for two years and ordered him to undergo anger management and alcohol treatment.
"I'm happy he was held accountable for what he did to my dog," Michele Etzel, the man's mother, told the Palm Beach Post when he was convicted. "My son needs alcohol treatment, and he needs anger management treatment."
Etzel's attorneys insisted that the dog bit him first, according to the Post, but it only took a jury less than 30 minutes to reject the claim and render a guilty verdict.
According to the initial arrest report obtained by WPEC-TV, Michele Etzel told authorities that her son had been drinking when he picked the dog up by the neck.
"David said [the dog] bit me, so I'm going to bite him," she told authorities in the report, according to the station.
Veterinarians testified that, even though they were able to reattach Cujo's eye, the dog would be permanently blind in that eye. Prosecutors also told the jury that the dog also suffered neck injuries from the 6-foot-8 Etzel's attack.
A veterinarian told deputies at the time that the dog's injuries were akin to being hit by a vehicle or
attacked by another dog, according to The Associated Press.
Some on social media expressed anger over the incident.
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