Man who threw puppy to pavement lands behind bars

A man who threw a dog onto the pavement in a remote Manitoba community has been sentenced to several months in jail.

Asha the German Shepherdpuppy was injured in July when she was tossed in the air and landed on the ground in Easterville, Man.

• Manitoba RCMP make arrest after video shows man throwing puppy

Video of the animal abuse was posted onFacebookand quickly caught the attention of media andRCMP.

The18-year-old man in the video was charged in July. Court documents show the man was charged with three offences, including one count of injuring adifferentanimal in February and another for animal cruelty inAsha'scase.

He was sentenced on Sept. 20 to three months in jail in the first case and two months in jail for injuring Asha. He was also sentenced for an additional month in relation to an assault charge and hit with two years of supervised probation.

• Asha doing well in Winnipeg foster home, says Manitoba Underdogs

Ashaspent the summer months rehabilitating. There were fears she may have been paralyzed when she was initially taken in by Manitoba Underdogs in July. Vetsdetermined she suffered soft tissue damage and she eventually regained the ability to walk.

Manitoba Underdogs spokesperson LindsayGillanderssaid her colleagues had a mixed reaction to the sentence.

"I think there were some people who thought the punishment was too light, but there were most of us who deal with this kind of stuff, the core group of volunteers in the organization, we were kind of happy to hear that there was any punishment at all,"Gillanderssaid.

"It's very rare that we seeany jail time at all for incidents like this."

Gillanderssaid more funding is needed for spay and neuter programs in remote and northern Manitoba communities to reduce dog populations.

"And we also just need some education and outreach to try to teach people how to treat animals and that things like this aren't acceptable,"Gillandersadded.

Ashawasadopted bya Manitoba Underdogs volunteernot long after she was injured.She'sdoing well, andgetting ready to ring in her first Christmas with her new family.

"We've all sort of fallen in love with her,"Gillanderssaid.