BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) – A southern Michigan man has been convicted of animal abuse in the beating of a dog that later had to be put down.
Calhoun County Prosecutor David Gilbert confirms that a jury found 55-year-old David Hursley guilty Thursday of torturing a dog and cruelty to animals. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
The husky mix had been beaten in February with a baseball bat and shot with a pellet rifle by the time officers arrived at Hursley’s Battle Creek home.
An officer shot and killed the dog because of the severity of its wounds.
Hursley testified that the dog was sometimes aggressive and had bit another man.
Defense attorney J. Thomas Schaeffer said Thursday that the conviction would be appealed.
Hursley is to be sentenced Oct. 28.
