REDWOOD CITY (BCN) --  A 27-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday morning to six months in San  Mateo County jail after pleading no contest to an animal cruelty charge for  killing his girlfriend's dog in 2008.

      Ryan Reeser, who has one day of credit for time served, must  surrender for the remainder of his sentence by Nov. 14, nearly a year after  he beat the 6-year-old miniature pinscher "Godiva" to death on Nov. 20, 2008,  according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.

      He pleaded no contest to one count of felony animal cruelty, which  carried a maximum sentence of three years in prison, Assistant District  Attorney Karen Guidotti said. Judge James Ellis instead sentenced him to six  months in jail.

      Prosecutors contended that Reeser punched Godiva's head and body,  dislodged the dog's eye from its socket, and then placed the animal in a  plastic storage container before leaving it to die a block from his home.

      Reeser allegedly told his girlfriend that Godiva had gotten out  and was nowhere to be found.

      His girlfriend's father found Godiva's body the next day, and  Peninsula Humane Society investigators allegedly found blood in Reeser's  house leading to the laundry area, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve  Wagstaffe said.

      The necropsy showed the dog suffered bruising in 13 places and  died of blood loss and other injuries related to the beating. The district  attorney's office initially charged Reeser with two felony counts of animal  cruelty and a misdemeanor count of destroying or hiding evidence.

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