No Additional Jail Time For Man Who Stabbed Puppy

DENVER (CBS4) -- A Denver man was sentenced to no additional jail time after he admitted in court to stabbing a puppy.

Matthew Weatherspoon was sentenced Wednesday morning after he agreed to plead guilty to aggravated cruelty to animals. Weatherspoon, 19, stabbed an American bulldog puppy five times in the face in June.

Weatherspoon has been behind bars since then. A judge ordered him to 30 months of mental health probation. He was also ordered to pay $6,000 in restitution to cover veterinarian bills for the dog's recovery.

"I'm blessed really just to be able to get out of here," Weatherspoon told CBS4's Stan Bush.

"Instead of just sitting in incarceration, he'll be receiving mental health and psycho therapy sessions to give him the tools to make sure this does not happen again; so he doesn't hurt another animal or even worse, a human being," said Deputy District Attorney Melissa Fox.

The 6-month-old dog, Diamond, was found bleeding from its head, face and abdomen by a passerby who called police.

"I think that if she had not been brought in when she was there's a chance she could have bled and certainly she needed repairs," Dr. David Israel said. "If that was not treated she could have died from infection."

Weatherspoon said the dog attacked him and cornered him in his apartment. He says he had no choice but to defend himself.

Diamond was adopted and continues to recover from stab wounds.