Man who fed puppy to boa gets 90 days in jail

updated 6:38 p.m. ET June 14, 2007

PHOENIX - A man who coated a 3-week-old puppy in cooking oil and then fed it to his pet boa constrictor was sentenced Thursday to 90 days in jail and two years probation, prosecutors said.

Joseph Beadle, 40, pleaded guilty to an animal cruelty charge in March. He has served 51 days of his jail sentence while the case was pending.

Beadle, of Glendale, faced up to a year in jail on the charge.

Police reports said Beadle fed the mixed-breed puppy to the 8-foot-long snake last June as two 15-year-old boys watched. He poured the cooking oil on the dog so it would be easier for the snake to swallow.

Investigators seized his snake after finding it was the victim of neglect.

"The County Attorneys Office has made prosecuting animal-cruelty cases a high priority," Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said in a statement. "Experience and empirical evidence have shown that people who commit cruelty to animals are more likely to commit crimes against people."

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