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from www.latimesblogs.latimes.com – A Sacramento parolee convicted of sexually assaulting a chihuahua was sentenced this week to 10 years in prison and must now register as a sex offender.

A jury last month convicted Robert Edward De Shields of strangulation and sexual abuse of the 8-month-old chihuahua. He was high on meth at the time of the attack, prosecutors said.

De Shields is confined to a wheelchair and had rented space in a South Sacramento home. When the homeowners came home one day in March, they found De Shields holding the scared dog, prosecutors said. The next day, the dog was missing, but found in the garage with De Shields. The dog was in pain and shock, prosecutors alleged.

A veterinarian later found severe injuries to the dog’s rectum and internal organs.

De Shields has been in and out of prison since 1992. Because of this case’s additional requirement that he register as a lifetime sex offender — which is unusual for an animal-cruelty case — he must now serve his sentence in state prison. Under the state’s prison realignment system, he would have otherwise served the time in county jail, the Sacramento County district attorney’s office said.