New Jersey Dog Trainer Sentenced On Animal Cruelty Charges

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A central New Jersey dog trainer who severely beat a canine that died while in his care has sentenced to five years in prison.

Michael Rosenberg, of Princeton, had pleaded guilty in May to animal cruelty. The charges stemmed from the 2012 death of Shyanne, a 3-year old German-shepherd mix owned by one of Rosenberg's clients.

Authorities have said Rosenberg hit Shyanne with a crop whip, picked her up and slammed her on the ground and did not seek medical attention for the animal.

"When Shyanne died, a part of me died that day too," the dog's owner, Tracy Stanton, said during the sentencing. "There's an undeniable bond between companion animals and their owners, and to lose a dog, I think we can all agree, is to lose a family member. When I lost Shyanne, I lost one of my closest family members."

Two days after Stanton brought Shyanne to Rosenberg, he called her saying the dog had collapsed while running, The Times of Trenton reported.

Stanton said her boyfriend went to pick up Shyanne and found the dog unresponsive and hosed down with water. The dog soon stopped breathing while being brought to a veterinarian.

The sentence handed down Friday to Rosenberg will run concurrently with a four-year sentence he received in 2011 for child endangerment. The latter sentence had been suspended, but was reinstated after the 32-year-old Rosenberg violated probation by failing a drug test and attempting to cheat on another.

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