Man who set dog ablaze gets 23 months to 4 years

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Man who set dog ablaze gets 23 months to 4 years

A 52-year-old Detroit man was sentenced to 23 months to 4 years in prison for setting his dog on fire and leaving her to burn as he walked to a Detroit corner store to purchase beer.

John Delmar Fladger pleaded guilty to animal torture, a felony, and was sentenced this morning before Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David Groner.

“This case shocks the conscience. This case is something I’ve never seen before,’’ Groner said before issuing the sentence.

Michele Baxter, a cruelty investigator for the Michigan Humane Society, told the judge that the 2-year-old female pit bull/shepherd mix was so badly injured that euthanization was the only option.

Fladger apologized before the court, saying: “I’m very remorseful about what happened and my soul love for dogs is great.’’

Baxter said Fladger poured gasoline on the dog and set it on fire Aug. 3 before walking to a liquor store to buy beer. She said the dog, named Lil' Mama, followed him down the street and into the store at the corner of Warren and Bangor, where a store owner expressed concern over the dog.

"He told the store owner that he was trying to kill the dog," Baxter said.

Police arrested Fladger on the street after someone called about the burning dog. He initially denied setting the dog on fire.

"I would put this at one of the more severe cases that I've seen and that we've seen," Baxter said.

The judge also ordered that Fladger receive psychiatric treatment in prison. Fladger previously served 22 years in prison on an armed robbery conviction.

"To think that you would destroy your dog like that makes me think that you have no regard for people," he said

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