A Northern California man in the United States avoided prison time Friday after he drunkenly trespassed at a preschool last year and attacked a pet tortoise named Michelangelo.
The 42-year-old man was also linked to other break-ins at the East San Jose school, and stole thousands of dollars of items in the days before and after the attack on Michelangelo, a decades-old African sulcata, in January 2021, reports AP.
A judge sentenced the man Friday to two years of probation and mandatory mental health and substance abuse treatment. He had pleaded no contest to charges of animal abuse, commercial burglary and vandalism earlier this year.The man is now also banned from having any animals for 10 years.
His public defender said his client’s behavior against the tortoise was the result of excessive intoxication, rather than animal cruelty.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
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