Man pleads guilty to shooting puppy at Port Orchard park

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — A Washington state man has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in the shooting of a 5-month-old labradoodle.

The Kitsap Sun reports 22-year-old Forrest Christian Smith was sentenced Friday in Kitsap County Superior Court to a year of incarceration with all but 10 days suspended.

Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree animal cruelty and aiming or discharging a firearm in the April 2018 shooting of the puppy at a Port Orchard park.

Neighbors contacted police after hearing the gunshot and a dog whimpering. The puppy Kitsap Humane Society employees named Toby underwent surgery but later died.

Prosecutors say Smith had claimed that he intended to euthanize the dog after believing it had broken its leg again.

Smith is prohibited from owning or caring for animals for two years.