Man Sentenced To 3-6 Years In Utica Dog Stabbing

MOUNT CLEMENS (AP) — A judge has sentenced a suburban Detroit man to three to six years in prison for stabbing his dog and leaving it to die under a park picnic table.

Twenty-three-year-old Alexander Gerth of Utica learned his sentence Tuesday in a Macomb County courtroom packed with about 40 animal lovers who burst into applause upon learning the length of the prison term.

Gerth pleaded no contest last month to a charge of killing/torturing an animal for the Jan. 24 death of the 2-year-old dog named Sterling. Utica public works employees found the dead dog in a city park.

County Prosecutor Eric Smith says Gerth had a prior criminal record that included a bank robbery in Illinois.

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