On Friday, a man from Downey, California was ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution for selling sick puppies to families in Southern California with many of the puppies having died. Gustavo Gonzales pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of selling live puppies on the street.
From February 2018 to April 2019, Gonzalez sold the puppies to families.
According to the news release by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office,
“The pets that we bring into our homes become a beloved part of our family. Trying to sell sick puppies to unsuspecting people is just plain wrong,” District Attorney Gascón said. “That’s why it’s so important to use established animal shelters or pet adoption agencies so that we avoid becoming victims and also help end the market for unscrupulous illegal dog breeders.”
Gonzalez, 27, was also ordered to pay 63 victims restitution and to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles totaling $203,000. He was also sentenced to 87 days in jail, placed on probation for one year and “waived time credits for the nearly two years he has spent in jail.”
In addition, the defendant was ordered to undergo one year of counseling for animal cruelty and is prohibited from owning or being around any animals for the next 10 years.
Originally Gonzalez had been accused of 52 counts of animal cruelty including 28 felony counts and one felony count apiece of first-degree residential burglary and grand theft.
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