Sacramento woman receives 7-year sentence for burning sister’s dog with butane torch
A Sacramento County woman has been sentenced to seven years in prison for burning a dog with a butane torch.
Petra Gabriel, 57, pleaded no contest in April to mutilating an animal and was sentenced Thursday in Sacramento Superior Court to seven years in state prison, court records show.
In July 2020, Gabriel’s dog got into a fight with Gabriel’s sister’s dog, Doody, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office reported at the time and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release Friday.
“After the women were able to separate the two dogs, Gabriel sprayed Doody with a flammable substance,” the DA news release said. “Gabriel proceeded to burn Doody with a butane torch, engulfing Doody’s face and body in flames.”
Doody survived, treated by UC Davis veterinarians, but remains in specialized foster care. The dog requires medication and “must wear a T-shirt at all times due to his extensive body burns,” the DA news release said.
The conviction is Gabriel’s third in which she used a flammable substance, according to the district attorney. The prior two crimes were a 2007 robbery and a 2011 assault. Gabriel served four years in prison for the assault conviction, Sacramento Superior Court records show.
