A Washington, D.C., man who pled guilty to two animal-cruelty charges after declawing a pair of kittens at home will wait three more weeks to find out his sentence.
Eric F. Gaskins was supposed to learn his fate Feb. 1 but asked for more time to review the prosecution’s report, which contains sentencing recommendations and veterinary information about the kittens' injuries, according to the Washington Humane Society (WHS), whose Humane Law Enforcement Department investigated the case. The new sentencing date is Feb. 22.
Gaskin, who pled guilty to the two misdemeanor charges in D.C. Superior Court in November, faces up to 180 days in jail and a $250 fine for each charge, plus a mandatory fee of $50 to $250 for a victims’ cause.
WHS has said that the “torturous” home declawing in May “led to paralyzation, infection and ultimately death” of Gaskin's daughter's 8-week-old kittens, Pumba and Simba. Veterinarians determined that the kittens’ claws had been ripped out, and that most of the bones in their feet had been broken, possibly as they struggled to escape from the declawing. Because their injuries were deemed beyond repair, the kittens were euthanized.
Gaskin's attorney, Daniel Harn, declined to discuss the case.
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