You think animal cruelty won’t put you behind bars? Think again.
A judge in Lycoming County sentenced a man to ten months in jail for shooting his neighbor’s dogs. One of the dogs died. The other was badly hurt.
Randy Feigles left the Lycoming County courthouse in custody. He is scheduled to spend the next ten months behind bars for shooting two of his neighbor’s dogs last year near Montoursville. A cocker spaniel named Sadie died.
“She was my baby. My kids and husband are off to swim practice from October to April and I would go home and she would be there for me. She was up against me, always on my lap,” Lora Sullivan said.
In March a jury found Feigles guilty of two counts of animal cruelty for killing Sadie and for shooting a lhasa apso named Lucky in the head. Feigles claimed the dogs were on his property while he was mowing grass, and that he was in danger.
Kevin and Lora Sullivan are the dogs’ owners, and say the pets each weighed less than 20 pounds, and each was friendly. The Sullivans say that, for them, losing Sadie is the equivalent of losing a child.
“I had a bowl of ice cream every night, she had her own spoon. When we were done with the ice cream, I’d say ‘it’s time for bed.’ By the time I put the bowl in the dishwasher, she was already in bed under the covers with her head on my pillow,” Kevin Sullivan said.
Lycoming County judge Marc Lovecchio told Feigles, “I cannot understand what would cause this to happen. These are little tiny dogs. I can’t imagine why you would shoot them.”
“If i could go back and change it I would,” Feigles responded. “I did what I felt I had to do.”
“I wanted him to get some kind of imprisonment, for him to know what it’s like to be away from someone he loves dearly. I’m always going to be away from Sadie. I’m never going to have her,” Lora Sullivan said.
In addition to ten months in jail, the judge also sentenced Feigles to 100 hours of community service. He’ll also have to pay restitution and won’t be allowed to own guns. As for the Sullivans, they say Lucky has recovered, and they’ve added two other dogs to the family.
