FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — A young man in Florida has been sentenced to five years of probation for taping a dog's mouth shut and leaving the animal dehydrated and malnourished.
Court records show that 19-year-old Oscar Lee Thompson III was sentenced Monday in Lee County court. He was convicted of aggravated animal cruelty last month after animal control officers found the stray Florida Cur in a Lehigh Acres neighborhood.
Officials say tips from the community led investigators to Thompson.
Forensic testing later matched Thompson's fingerprints and DNA to the tape removed from the dog's mouth. Lehigh Acres is a community about 17 miles east of Fort Myers.