No jail time for man burning animal alive while grabbing a drink to watch

Author: Associated Press
Published: Updated:
Mugshot Roberto Hernandez, 19. (Credit Miami-Dade Police Dept.)
Mugshot Roberto Hernandez, 19. (Credit Miami-Dade Police Dept.)

A South Florida judge ordered a 19-year-old to serve five years of probation and community service as punishment for setting a caged animal on fire and feeding it to his dogs.

Prosecutors had sought jail time for Roberto Hernandez after the acts were caught on surveillance video, saying the animal was a stray cat and calling it a “brutal case.”

Prosecutors said Hernandez put a stray cat in a small cage and doused it with a flammable liquid. He proceeded to flick a match on the cat, then watched it writhing in agony as he grabbed a drink to watch. Hernandez would then feed the animal to his pit bulls.

The Miami Herald reported that Circuit Judge Nushin Sayfie said she believed Hernandez, who claimed the animal was actually a rabid raccoon that reportedly had been attacking farm animals.

Sayfie said that although she doesn’t think a raccoon should be treated that way, she based her decision on Hernandez’s age and the fact that prosecutors rarely seek such jail sentences for first-time offenders charged with third-degree felonies.

Hernandez had no prior criminal history.

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