Michael Earl Hill will spend the next two years in jail for binding a dog by the snout and paws and leaving him to die in a field.
Hill plead guilty to willfully causing unnecessary pain and suffering or injury to an animal. After two years in a federal prison Hill will be under probation for three years and is banned from owning an animal for 25 years.
Hill's lawyer Ahmed Amar says his client is aware of the gravity of the situation which is why he plead guilty.
"The reason that the resolution happened so early, it was Michael, he wanted it done. He recognized he did something that he shouldn't have done, he's remorseful and he needs to move on," says Amar.
Justice Micheline Rawlins acknowledged a petition with 65,000 signatures asking for the maximum penalty of five years for Hill but told the court that maximum penalties are reserved for repeat offenders and the most heinous crimes.
Dean Cresswell, the man who found Justice, and other supporters were happy with the sentence.
"We have to accept that this is a first conviction. He's got two years in a penitentiary, which is fabulous and plus he has all these restrictions, no dogs or animals or pets for 25 years, they can't be in the household and all the probation and reporting and rehabilitation. Everything came to light. We couldn't ask for anything more," says Cresswell.
Justice is still recovering from his injuries at the Windsor-Essex County Humane Society.