N.W.T. man jailed for killing pet pug

A man in Yellowknife has been sentenced to 12 months in jail for stabbing a woman's pet pug to death earlier this year.

Lloyd Thrasher, who pleaded guilty in March to killing Garlic the 1½-year-old Chinese pug in January, was handed the jail term by territorial court Judge Robert Gorin on Monday afternoon.

Thrasher, 23, is also prohibited from owning or having custody of any animal for 10 years.

"It was more than what I expected, to tell you the truth," Vanessa Baron, Garlic's owner, told reporters outside the Yellowknife courthouse after Thrasher's sentence has handed down.

"It doesn't erase what happened and it doesn't solve the underlying issue, but I'm really relieved it's over."

Baron said she had left the dog inside her vehicle, which was running and unlocked, while she stopped briefly at a downtown lounge on the evening of Jan. 27.

Thrasher admitted that he took the dog from Baron's vehicle, stabbed it several times, then left it in a dumpster. Baron said Garlic's lungs collapsed as a result of the stabbing.

Reading from her victim impact statement on Monday, Baron said she has not been able to sleep properly since Garlic was killed, and she does not understand how someone could have done such a thing.

Baron also said she hopes Thrasher will get help, not just jail time.

Thrasher told the court that he has always loved animals and Garlic's slaying was a one-time incident.

But Gorin said he does not believe Thrasher has shown remorse for his actions.

"The sentence certainly is considered by the court to be justified, so at this point we're going to have to be happy with that sentence," Thrasher's lawyer, Jay Bran, told CBC News outside court.

Thrasher received credit for the four months he has already spent in custody.