An Augusta man convicted of animal cruelty after being caught on video abusing three of his dogs was sentenced to 15 days for the harsh crime.
Lamario Jenkins, 42, was caught on video by a neighbor on Elderberry Drive July 3 as he picked up one dog and threw it against a gas grill. He then took another dog and choked it, with the animal clearly gasping for breath.
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A third video captures only the sounds of the animal screeching in pain.
Jenkins was cited for the animal cruelty offense and sentenced to 15 days in jail, which he began July 18. Jenkins was also ordered to serve probation and pay a $1,000 fine.
However, the state court offense meant he only had to serve half of the jail sentence. He was expected to be released Thursday (July 25), but jail records show he is now being held on an “other authority” warrant, and he remained in jail Saturday at Charles B. Webster Detention Center.
As for the animals he tortured, they have been taken to a local Augusta rescue, including two mixed-breed puppies and one adult Dachshund.
The adult dog was beaten with a rolling pin and suffered fractured teeth and broken ribs.
Local animal lovers assert that Animal Control is limited to charging suspects with misdemeanors and the sheriff’s office is lax on pursuing felony cases in such heartless incidents. They argue that the only deterrent is having your name and photo publicized.
While all three animals survived the abuse, they took a while to recover from the trauma and were initially wary of human contact. They are expected to be put up for adoption in the future.
