An Ingham County, Michigan man who admitted to brutally beating his eight-month-old dog nearly to death because he got into the trash, has escaped jail time and is only going to get probation.
20-year-old Abdulrazzaq Mustafa confessed to picking up Champ and slamming him on the ground multiple times, which caused several compound fractures to his right-rear femur.
Champ survived but required four hours of orthopedic surgery to put his leg back together, and will suffer life-long injuries from the beating.
His bone was so badly broken that surgeons had to put steel rods screwed into it from the outside, as well as a permanent rod inside his leg.
But this wasn’t the first time that Mustafa had beaten Champ. Mustafa’s girlfriend brought Champ to the Capital Area Humane Society in October, and told investigators that Mustafa routinely beat Champ, even leaving him unconscious one of the times.
Mustafa was charged with domestic violence after the dog was brought to the humane society. The Ingham County prosecutor’s office dropped those charges, but it’s unknown why.
Mustafa pleaded guilty last month to second-degree killing or torturing an animal and will be sentenced on February 12th.
Officers say that he cut a deal with prosecutors and will serve no jail time if he is able to stay out of trouble.
He would then only get probation, despite Michigan increasing penalties for killing and torturing animals last year.
Capital Area Humane Society/Facebook
In the meantime, Champ is recovering in a foster home. Once he is fully healed, he will be available for adoption.
Call (517) 626-6060 for more information on adopting Champ, or e-mail behavior@AdoptLansing.org.
