An ex-con was sentenced Wednesday to nearly four years in state prison for throwing a 10-year-old boy’s Chihuahua assistance dog from a balcony in Long Beach, injuring the canine.
Superior Court Judge Judith L. Meyer also barred Jose Yvani Herrera from owning, possessing, residing with or caring for any animal for 10 years.
Herrera, 24, was sentenced immediately after pleading no contest to a felony count of cruelty to an animal and admitting that he had been convicted in 2015 of second-degree robbery.
Herrera was living with his ex-girlfriend in a home she shared with her 41-year-old mother and 10-year-old “special needs” brother when Long Beach police got a call for help May 7 in the 200 block of Artesia Boulevard, according to Deputy District Attorney Paul Guthrie.
The 41-year-old woman told police that Herrera picked up her son’s assistance dog, a 1-year-old Chihuahua named Pearl, and hurled the dog from a balcony, the prosecutor said.
The dog — who had significant injuries to her eye — required special medical care that the family could not provide. She was put in the care of Long Beach Animal Care Services, and is recovering from her injuries, the prosecutor said.
—City News Service