Several months ago we covered the story of Rufus, a terrier brutally killed by one of his owners who at the time was going through a divorce. A petition, which garnered 3,468 signatures to date, was started to maintain the level of crime as a felony based on the particular brutality of the case. It looks as though the public outcry for justice was successful.
AL.Com reports that Monday, former attorney James Stewart Robinson, entered a guilty plea to one count of first-degree cruelty to a dog or cat, a class C felony, and one count of third-degree domestic violence.
There was a recommended sentence of probation that will be formalized at a sentencing hearing to be held in August.
Jeff Bonzo, a friend of Rufus’ owner who promoted the petition, wrote on a Facebook page where it received a lot of community support, “Honestly, without all of you taking action and circulating that petition as rabidly as y’all did … there wouldn’t have been anything to post or, God forbid, there would’ve been different news. I truly believe that as does Rufus’ owner and her husband.”
