BRONX DA: YEAR BEHIND BARS FOR SOUNDVIEW MAN WHO TORTURED DOG TO DEATH

ANYTHING BUT GENTLE

Dwayne Gentles Sentenced in Beating Death of Puppy

(Bronx, NY – August 13, 2015) – Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson announces a man convicted of the December 2012 beating death of a 4-month-old puppy has been sentenced to one year behind bars. 

Last month, a Bronx Supreme Court jury found 29-year-old DWAYNE GENTLES guilty of a single count of:

Overdriving, Torturing and Injuring Animals; Failure to Provide Proper Sustenance, a Class-A Misdemeanor (Agriculture & Markets Law 353)

Supreme Court Justice Miriam Best sentenced GENTLES to the maximum allowable by law, one year.  She also signed an order forbidding GENTLES from owning any animals for the next year.

The puppy  named Brandy sustained repeated and eventually fatal injuries during her short life with GENTLES in the Soundview section of the Bronx.  During trial, witnesses testified to hearing the little pit bull’s endless whimpers at 456 Commonwealth Avenue, the building GENTLES shared with several members of his family.  But by four days before Christmas, the dog could not walk, and she was barely conscious.  GENTLES brought Brandy to one vet and then to a veterinary E.R., where doctors advised she be humanely euthanized.

The case was reported to the ASPCA, whose forensic veterinarian Dr. Robert Reisman testified that Brandy had suffered injuries both fresh and weeks, if not months, old – 13 broken ribs in varying stages of healing, two broken femurs, one of which was fractured in two places, broken teeth and a jaw fracture that prevented the dog from eating.  The animal was emaciated and flea-ridden, and had internal injuries as well, found to be from blunt force trauma.  Before her euthanization, two veterinarians also observed severe neurological trauma.

District Attorney Johnson also wishes to thank the ASPCA’s Humane Law Enforcement Division for its help, as well as veterinarians from Banfield Pet Hospital and Blue Pearl Veterinary Partners.

                The case against DWAYNE GENTLES was prosecuted by Assistant D.A.s Tama Monoson,  Kelli Untiedt, and Agata Digiovanni of the Bronx D.A. Arson/Auto/Economic Crime Bureau.