Man Gets 20 Months For Killing Dog

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 230-pound Glendale Heights man who fatally beat his girlfriend's Chihuahua after it had an accident in their apartment was sentenced Wednesday to 20 months in prison.

Michael Chacon, 24, pleaded guilty to felony aggravated animal cruelty in the July 28 death of the 4.5-pound dog named Tyson.

Chacon called his girlfriend at work that day to tell her he had returned to the apartment and found the dog dead, DuPage County prosecutors said.

But when she rushed home, she found blood spattered as high as five feet up a wall of the apartment and signs the pet had been beaten, prosecutor Fred Flather said. An exam by a vet indicated the dog died of multiple skull and rib fractures, Flather said.

The couple had argued the previous day about the dog after it wet Chacon's shirt, a relative said.

Chacon deserved the prison term, said his former girlfriend's father after the sentencing, calling the man's attack on the nine-year-old dog "very inhumane."

"It was a small, defenseless little animal," said Israel Acevedo, who had given the dog to his daughter as a birthday present.

Chacon, who stands 5-feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 230 pounds, offered no explanation for the beating, but did tell Judge Blanche Fawell that he believes he has drug or alcohol problems.

He had faced up to six years in prison, but also was eligible for probation.

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