A 23-year-old Fort Wayne man was sentenced this week to 180 days in jail for keeping an emaciated dog in an abandoned house with little food or water for weeks.
Reginald E. Culpher was found guilty Tuesday in Allen Superior Court of a single misdemeanor count of animal cruelty and will serve 180 days in the county jail, according to court records.
Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control officers recovered the malnourished pit bull from an abandoned home without running water or electricity, agency spokeswoman Peggy Bender said in a statement. The temperature inside the house registered 98 degrees, and the dog had been kept for weeks without enough food or water, Bender said.
A veterinarian who examined the 9-month-old pit bull found it weighed only 17.8 pounds, Bender said. The dog is recovering and gaining weight under the care of an animal control officer who has expressed interest in adopting it, she said.
