[Zoey's Momma]

MONROE, La. (AP) - A Winnsboro woman has pleaded guilty to aggravated cruelty to an eight-month-old Labrador retriever puppy which she hit with a hammer, then dragged from her vehicle.

Sharon Fowler is scheduled to be sentenced November second.

Assistant district attorney Neal Johnson agreed that, in exchange for her guilty plea, she should get no more than three years in prison. She also faces fines between five to ten-thousand dollars.

Ouachita Parish Sheriff's deputies arrested Fowler for the August 2003 incident, which injured the dog so seriously that it had to be put to death.

According to police reports, Fowler became enraged after noticing her son had been bitten while playing outside with friends in a West Monroe mobile home park, though none of the marks broke the skin. Fowler also claimed the dog tried to bite her.

Aggravated animal cruelty has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, but first-time offenders rarely get the maximum.

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