Andrea Rosebrock 
Michael Ray Howard, convicted of killing 13 puppies by tying them in a plastic bag and tossing them in a dumpster, among other crimes, has been sentenced to prison.
In December a bag containing 14 puppies was found in a dumpster outside a Salt Lake City, UT, Hancock Fabric store. Only one one of the puppies survived and has since been adopted by Rita Woodward, an employee of Hancock Fabrics and one of the women who found the puppies.
He was charged with 14 counts of animal cruelty and one third-degree felony. Initially, Howard pleaded not guilty even though he did admit he stuffed the tiny, 3-5 week old Jack Russell mix puppies, in a heavy trash bag to suffocate, left them outside overnight and the next day figuring he’d accomplished killing them all, threw the bag of puppies in a Riverdale dumpster. He changed his plea to guilty the following day.
Howard, also convicted of illegal possession of a controlled substance and an admitted methamphetamine user/addict was sentenced to serve to serve 13 years in prison for the class A misdemeanor counts of aggravated animal cruelty, six months in prison for a class B misdemeanor animal cruelty charge, and up to five years in prison for the drug charge. All sentence will run together which in reality means about a 5 year sentence and probably even less time will actually be served.
Prosecutors said the crime was committed with “extreme depravity” and noted it was a touchstone for the passage of Henry’s Law, which increased the penalty for extreme cases of animal cruelty to a felony. That bill was passed by the Legislature earlier this year.
It’s gratifying to see someone who acted with such wanton disregard for life to actually get a prison sentence for his heartless cruelty. I applaud Judge Roger Dutson for taking this crime seriously.
What dismays me is the comments from people that are with the news story about this. So many people whining and griping about the sentence being too harsh and the usual ‘it’s only puppies, not people’, stuff like that. When are people going to realize that when anyone acts with this wanton disregard for life, even animal life, it takes little to nothing for this to carry over to violence and abuse against people.
This is a proven fact!! It’s not a hypothesis. That’s just one of the reasons that people strive so hard to get animal abuse laws toughened for abusers. People who kill, main and abuse animals need to be taken very seriously and their crimes need to be punished harshly. Get real people! The nest time it could be your pet…. or child… when good old Michael Ray Howard gets hopped up on drugs. Think about that!
Good glad to hear that he gets time out this … hope he gets more in prison as well …. hope the men get the newbie in there all and well done…. scum bag I’m so tired of all the missue that is going on it has broken my heart many of times….
. When are people going to realize that when anyone acts with this wanton disregard for life, even animal life, it takes little to nothing for this to carry over to violence and abuse against people.
That is true I don,t care what anybody says I believe it to be true and to tell you the truth I will take 5 years it could have been a lot less the way I see it he looks like the type that can,t be good for to long he will end up doing all the time ….jeffrey
It’s about time that these people start paying for their crimes! I’m so tired of reading about horrific crimes against animals and seeing that they get “time served/probation of 30 days or dismissal of charges. I really want to slap the people who whine -”it’s only an animal” and then when they yell- inform them-” hey- you’re only a dumbass”.
Katrina, Jeffrey, and Margaret – One of the best things about most of the people who take the time to comment here is that you realize the reality of a crime like this. It’s not a joke or funny or something to be belittled… it’s heartless, cruel and illegal! People who do things like this have no care for the sanctity of life, be it an animal’s or next, a person’s. And the people who don’t get it are just about as bad!
Thank you all for bringing sanity to this!
D.
I AM SO HAPPY TO HEAR THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JACK-THE-RIPPER OF DOGS GETTING IS JUST REWARD! I SAY SENDING HIM TO PRISON IS TOO LIGHT OF A SENTENCE!!!
ANOTHER ISSUE TO BRING TO LIGHT ARE THE JERKS WHO SAY “the sentence is too harsh” …WELL, LISTEN UP PEOPLE…HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF THIS SICK MORON TOOK ONE OF YOUR BABIES AND STUFFED IT IN A PLASTIC BAG?
THE MOTHER OF THESE POOR LITTLE BABIES SHED BLOOD FOR HER PUPPIES JUST AS WE DO!!
NOW WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE???
Well said everyone!!Animal abuse will never stop until people are actually punished for it!!The slap on the wrist is crap!!This news has made my day..Thank u..and the only an animal bull..well Margaret,u stole my line!
when society wakes up & realizes that monsters like this that live among us & are capable of committing such horrible attrocities against innocent living creatures, then & only then will issue the correct punishment for acts like this..
They have not realized it yet.
This is a jeffrey dahmer in the making.
Do you even think for one minute that this POS will come out better after serving time in jail for putting to death some puppies who meant nothing at all to him??
I hope that BIG BUBBA will be his cellmate & a huge animal lover.
He deserves as much!!
Hi Kea what you are asking for is happening more and more in prison more and more people in jail are having a dislike for people that abuse Animals and kids people that abuse kids are a good star in their hat they kill them with a passion ….jeffrey
Jeffery some things happen behind bars others inmates … they aren’t very nice things lets say … and he’ll get his pay for what he has done …. in other words he may just gte more then what he thought other then time …lol….
Let’s send the judge down to Brevard County Florida to deal with Christine Dawn Abrams (who starved her white GSD named Ella). For THAT, I would gladly pay the airfare to be there.
glad to hear about the prison sentence.
i will be visiting salt lake city soon
and will make a point of making my opinion known…
we also need regulations for so called shelters who do not spay and neuter….so there are not litters and litters of unwanted puppies and kittens…we also need to stop the breeding nonsense…
there should be a handful of government registered breeders and that is it. just enough to keep the breeds viable and stop all the backyard breeders from adding to the problem at a rate that we can never fix it.
thanks for the update.