Jail Time Sought For Man In Death Of Girlfriend's Dog

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YORK, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania man has been convicted of felony aggravated cruelty to animals in the death of his girlfriend's Yorkshire terrier last year.

York County prosecutors said jurors last week deliberated for less than an hour Thursday before convicting 53-year-old Earl Carl Allen in the April 2018 death of 9-year-old Leo.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Justin Roberts said he will seek incarceration of the defendant when he is sentenced Jan. 29.

Police said Allen gave several different accounts, ultimately saying he was drying off from a shower and had a towel over his head when he felt something on his feet and kicked out with his steel-toed boot, unintentionally injuring the animal.

But an investigator said the "continued variances in his recollection" indicated that Allen was "still not being entirely truthful."

Congress recently passed a bill to make animal cruelty a federal crime. As of now, the bill awaits executive approval.