Man jailed for upto 10 years for abusing his dog so much that it had to be euthanized after being rescued
Warning: Distressing content
Thirty-seven-year-old Massachusetts man Radoslaw Czerkawski has been convicted on animal cruelty charges after he abused a dog so badly that it had to be put to sleep. The man will be spending 8 to 10 years in prison.
The dog had been constantly abused and was left in such a bad psychological state that rescuers finally decided to euthanize the dog, also known as "Puppy Doe", five years after she was found abandoned.
Czerkawski has also been sentenced to two years of probation and has been banned from owning or even coming into contact with any animal. The man has also been banned from volunteering at animal shelters.
Officials at the immigration office have said that they will deport Czerkawski the moment he completes his sentence. They have also filed a detainer for him for when he gets released.
Michael Morrissey, the Norfolk County District Attorney, has said that the probation will not delay any extradition from the US.
Czerkawski was found guilty on the morning of April 2 of torturing and abandoning the pit bull mix, Kiya, but he was cleared of lying to the authorities. He is already behind bars for two larceny convictions which are not related.
The one-year-old dog was found in a playground in Quincy in April 2013 with fractures to her skull, spine and ribs, a stab wound in her right eye and split tongue. The case immediately made headlines.
Kiya was put up for sale on Craigslist by her previous owner and was bought by Czerkawski in the summer of 2013.
The man's attorney has acknowledged that his client did, in fact, own the dog but said in court that she had run away. He also said that someone else had been responsible for the abuse.
Mary Nee, the President of the Animal Rescue League, said that the ruling was historic and that it would create the precedent for stricter animal welfare laws.
She said: "Puppy Doe's short and tragic life was the impetus for stronger laws and protecting all animals"
Morrissey commended the Quincy Police Department for taking Kiya's case "very seriously from the onset". He said in a statement: "Law enforcement at every level needs to treat animal cruelty cases as the serious crimes that they are."
The state of Massachusetts has cracked down on the penalties for animal abuse since Kiya was found but Czerkaswski will be sentenced only according to the animal welfare laws as it was in 2013.
If he had to be sentenced according to the 2014 PAWS Act that was enacted after the Puppy Doe case, he would have been jailed for 84 years with each felony animal abuse count being considered as 7 years behind bars.
The guilty verdict was announced after the judge dismissed two of the jurors and replaced them with alternative ones.