MOSCOW, December 24 (RAPSI) – The Blagoveshchensk District Court in Russia’s Amur Region has sentenced an owner of a dog shelter, who left animals without pet food and water, to 3 years in penal colony settlement, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office reports.

Moreover, the court declared the man’s activity illegal and barred him from exploiting the shelter. The defendant was found guilty of cruelty to animals resulted in their death.

The court found that the shelter’s owner deprived dogs of complete balanced meal, drinking water and failed to provide timely professional veterinary aid to the animals from March 2018 to January 2019.

As a result of the defendant’s criminal actions, 32 dogs died; the man got a financial benefit estimated at more than 1.6 million rubles (over $25,000) and spent the money for his own purposes, the statement reads.