Man jailed for killing dogs to avoid kennel

updated 10:35 a.m. ET June 25, 2009

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A judge has given a 90-day jail sentence to a man accused of killing his dogs to avoid boarding them while he went on vacation.

Forty-three-year-old David Santuomo pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of animal cruelty and one count of possession of a criminal tool — a homemade silencer he used on the end of a rifle, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Heather Robinson says Santuomo, a firefighter, shot his two mixed-breed dogs Sloopy and Skeeter on Dec. 3 after tying them to a pipe in his basement. She says he dumped the remains in a trash bin behind his firehouse.

Prosecutors say he bragged about the killings to colleagues.

Defense attorney Sam Shamansky says it was "totally out of character" for his client.

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