LA Man Given Four-Year Prison Term For Maiming Dog

Originally published by The Associated Press, January 28, 2002

COMPTON, Calif. (AP) — A man who blew apart a dog's jaw with a firecracker was sentenced Monday to four years in state prison.

Gil Raul Delara, 19, of Los Angeles, was sentenced in Superior Court after he pleaded no-contest to felony charges of animal cruelty and possession of a destructive device.

Authorities alleged that on Dec. 30 in the Watts area, Delara placed an M-80 firecracker in the mouth of a German shepherd and lit the fuse. The dog's entire lower jaw was blown off and the animal was put down at a veterinary hospital, police said.