A South Jersey man who claimed to have woken up next to a suddenly dead dog pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges after it was found the dog died from strangulation.
A judge sentenced Thomas Bock of Florence Township, New Jersey Monday. As part of the sentence, Beck can no longer own a pet, must serve 30 days of community service, must attend anger management course, pay fines and surrender his current dog.
Burlington County Humane Police responded to a home on May 28 to investigate the suspicious death of a 7-year-old Pug named Jackson.
At the time, Bock -- who knew the Pug’s female owner -- said that he had fallen asleep on the coach next to Jackson and woke up to find the dog dead, according to investigators.
Jackson showed no visible signs of injury but a New Jersey Department of Agriculture necropsy revealed hemorrhaging in the pet’s trachea, esophagus and under the jaw. The injuries caused a pulmonary aspiration that killed Jackson, authorities said.
Authorities ruled Jackson’s death strangulation and later charged Bock with needlessly killing a living creature, torture and torment of a living creature and causing the death of a living creature.
