(AP) -- MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, Mich. - A Muskegon Heights man accused of abusing the family cat then tossing it in the trash when he thought it was dead has been sentenced.
Thirty-one-year-old Joshua James McKinley was sentenced Monday to 18 months to six years in state prison. McKinley received credit for 56 days already served and was ordered to pay $628 in court fines and costs.
McKinley previously pleaded guilty to felony animal torture.
Police said on July 6 McKinley threw the family cat, Whiskey, up to 20 times before it ended up in the garbage can. McKinley said he threw the cat because it was eating dinner on the kitchen counter.
The Muskegon Chronicle says the severely injured cat was taken to the West Michigan Society for the Protection and Care of Animals.
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
