A man who beat his girlfriend's small dog to death pleaded no contest Tuesday to animal cruelty and was sentenced to six months in county jail.
Ryan Reeser, 27, attacked a 6-year-old miniature pinscher named Godiva on Nov. 20, 2008, punching the 7-pound dog numerous times in the face, said Steve Wagstaffe, San Mateo County's chief deputy district attorney.
Reeser dislodged one of the dog's eyes from its sockets and left bruises in 13 places, Wagstaffe said.
The animal bled to death, and Reeser threw its body in a plastic storage container on Easton Drive in Burlingame. His girlfriend's father found the body the next day.
A Burlingame man accused of fatally punching his girlfriend's miniature pinscher Godiva and dumping her body on the street is scheduled to surrender today on animal cruelty charges.
Prosecutors filed two felony counts of animal abuse and a misdemeanor charge of destroying evidence Dec. 11 against Ryan Reeser, 27. Reeser is supposed to surrender this morning.
On Nov. 20, Reeser's girlfriend brought the dog to his home on El Camino Real where they often stayed, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
The woman left for a time and, upon returning, couldn't find Godiva. Reeser reportedly said the dog ran away but the woman saw blood on a washing machine and socks. The woman called her father who confronted Reeser and later found Godiva dead in her bed on a side street, Wagstaffe said.
The dog was taken to the Peninsula Humane Society.
Reeser allegedly told authorities he punched the 6-year-old dog once in the head after she nipped at him.
A necropsy performed on Godiva showed the dog sustained multiple hits and died from multiple rib and skull fractures and hematomas, Wagstaffe said.
The animal's eye was also dislodged, he said.
The Peninsula Humane Society turned the case over to the District Attorney's Office which decided to file the charges last week after further investigation, Wagstaffe said.
Reeser has no prior criminal convictions in San Mateo County.
