Crime & Safety
Man Sentenced For Beating Girlfriend's Dog To Death
An Auburn man will serve two and a half years in prison for the beating death of his girlfriend's dog named Polka Dot.
AUBURN, MA — An Auburn man was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for savagely beating his girlfriend's dog to death while she was at work.
Gregory Fargnoli was sentenced after pleading guilty to animal cruelty charges that stemmed from the November, 2015, incident, when he beat to death a 12-year-old Catahoula leopard dog named Polka Dot because he couldn't sleep, reports The Telegram and Gazette.
Fargnoli reportedly beat the dog with a broom handle while his girlfriend, who had moved from Louisiana to live with him only weeks earlier, worked, reports NBC Boston. The dog suffered multiple fractures, a brain bleed, collapsed lungs and more injuries.
According to the Associated Press, Fargnoli had been convicted of choking his girlfriend only weeks before.
Judge Shannon Frison, during the sentencing, noted that the attack and killing impacted Fargnoli's girlfriend greatly, reports MassLive.He was also convicted of strangulation, assault and battery on a household or family member, intimidation of a witness and firearms charges.
An animal cruelty conviction in Massachusetts currently carries a maximum state prison sentence of not more than seven years or imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than two and a half years, and a fine of not more than $5,000, or both a fine and imprisonment.
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