A Monticello man has been sentenced to two years in prison for abusing a pit bull that had to be put down after the attack.

Samuel Stanford was sentenced to the maximum time allowed under the law for the aggravated animal cruelty against “Zola” in Sullivan County court last week.

He was initially given probation in the 2023 case, but the sentence was revisited after he violated the terms by getting arrested again for allegedly selling narcotics.

Zola suffered two deep head lacerations in the attack, as well as a broken cheekbone, several wounds to her body, two broken ribs and leg abrasions, according to officials.

Joanne Gerow runs Catskill Animal Rescue and cared for Zola after the incident. She gave a victim’s impact statement to the court.

“This sentence means that her life was not in vain. That it served a purpose,” says Gerow. “It breaks our hearts that we had to euthanize Zola.”

Gerow says Stanford trained Zola to fight other dogs and that despite their best efforts, the pit bull was found to be repeatedly and dangerously aggressive toward other animals and was put down while being trained to become a police K-9 with a Michigan-based organization.