Donald Stickens received five years for the August incident involving a golden retriever named Stella, who is now recovering well.
A Florida man has been handed the maximum prison sentence allowed by law for a felony count of animal cruelty after being caught on video severely beating a 9-year-old golden retriever that the Tampa Free Press reported on last summer.
Donald Stickens, 24, was arrested in August following an investigation by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office into the disturbing incident.
The video footage showed Stickens repeatedly strangling and punching the dog, named Stella. At one point, the defenseless animal was lifted off the ground by her neck and hung by her leash, before being punched in the face…