MASPETH — A Maspeth woman who stuffed her severely beaten 9−year−old poodle into a suitcase that she threw into a trash can outside her house has been sentenced to 30 days in jail, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Tuesday.
Sonia Perez, 21, of Maspeth, appeared Monday before Queens Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Chin−Brandt and pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated cruelty to animals. She was also sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to make restitution to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for the medical care it administered prior to the poodle’s death.
Perez admitted she placed the suitcase containing her poodle outside her home March 3. The dog was discovered by a passerby who heard noises coming from the trash can, Brown said.
According to Brown, the poodle was having difficulty breathing, very cold and lying limp and nonresponsive in its own feces. The small poodle was taken to the ASPCA, where it was diagnosed with scrotal bruising and rib fractures. The dog died the following day as a result of its injuries, Brown said.
