Oregon puppy strangler sentenced to 3 years in prison

SALEM – An Oregon woman accused of strangling her neighbor’s puppy has pleaded no contest to aggravated animal abuse and been sentenced to more than three years behind bars.

The Statesman Journal reports 44-year-old Meagan Lafferty, of Salem, also pleaded no contest to attempted aggravated harassment at Monday’s hearing before Marion County Judge Claudia Burton.

The incident happened Jan. 30, when Lafferty’s neighbors invited her to stay the night after she was displaced by a fire. While there, she picked up the 9-week-old puppy and tried to leave with it.

Lafferty strangled the puppy after ignoring the owner’s demand that she let the dog go. The owner told police that Lafferty said: “I am God, and I am here to end his misery.”

She kept her hands around the puppy’s neck until police officers pried her fingers away.