A Massachusetts man who beat his girlfriend's dog to death because it was keeping him awake has been sentenced to two years in state prison.
Gregory Fargnoli was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to charges including animal cruelty in connection with the death in November 2015 of the 12-year-old Catahoula leopard dog.
Prosecutors say the Auburn man beat the dog with a broom handle while his girlfriend was at work. The couple had met online and the woman had moved from Louisiana to live with Fargnoli just a few weeks earlier.
A veterinarian says the dog had multiple rib fractures, multiple broken teeth, collapsed lungs, a brain bleed and external injuries.
Fargnoli was also convicted of choking his girlfriend about two weeks before the dog was killed.
