A Southern California judge sentenced a Navy veteran last week to almost 10 years in prison for burning and torturing his neighbors' dogs.
According to KNSD-TV, David Herbert, 37, of Oceanside, was sentenced Friday to eight years and eight months in state prison, plus an additional 364 days in jail, after jurors convicted him of six counts of animal cruelty, four counts of vandalism and one count of burglary in August.
Authorities said the Iraq war veteran burned his neighbors' huskies with acid, poisoned them and gouged out one dog's eye before the family moved away, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. His new neighbors' golden retriever also vanished and is presumed dead after authorities found its blood in Herbert's vehicle, according to the newspaper.
Herbert said in court that he is "sorry that any of this happened," the Union-Tribune reported.
Attorney Jim Weintre, who represented Herbert at his sentencing hearing, argued that Herbert suffers from “major depressive disorder.”
Weintre said Herbert had good conduct during his six years in the Navy and was honorably discharged. The former corpsman was “shot at, withstood mortar attacks every night and dodged grenades,” Weintre said.
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