5-Day Sentence Given for Animal Cruelty
A Tujunga man convicted of one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty, was sentenced this week, a deputy city attorney said Wednesday.
Courtney Clift Sawyer, 37, was sentenced in Van Nuys Municipal Court to five days in jail and three years’ probation for mistreating his horse, “Heart.”
Authorities discovered the animal wandering a Tujunga neighborhood Sept. 14, after nearby residents called them to corral the wayward animal, said Don Cocek, a deputy city attorney in the Van Nuys branch office.
Animal regulation officials who went to impound the animal “noticed it was underweight and in need of medical attention,” Cocek said. “Its ribs were sticking out.”
In addition to the fine and jail time, Van Nuys Municipal Judge Alan Ellis ordered Sawyer to pay the animal regulation department $472 for board and veterinary care for the horse, Cocek said.
Under the terms of his probation, described by Cocek as “the maximum” for the offense,” Sawyer must give up Heart and another horse he owns.
“The puzzling thing about this case is that one horse was 400 pounds underweight and the other was just fine. It doesn’t make any sense,” Cocek said.
“And we never did find out why he did it.”
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