Craven County man sentenced for starving dog to death

A jury found Jon Civils, 30, guilty on a felony count of starvation of an animal. Civils was sentenced to up to 15 months in prison.

Civils was arrested a year ago after deputies were called by a pet crematory because of the condition of a dog that had been brought in for cremation.

The dog, named Sugar, belonged to Civils’ roommate who was jailed a month earlier on unrelated charges. Deputies say Civils had agreed to take care of the dog.

A necropsy showed the dog died from starvation based on the lack of body fat and poor muscle mass, The report showed Sugar only had pieces of plastic in her stomach.