Schenectady man who beat dog, duct-taped its mouth gets year in jail

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

A city man who admitted to a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge was sentenced to a year in jail this week, officials said.

Michael S. Perillo, 42, formerly of Albany Street, pleaded guilty in July to the misdemeanor count of torturing or injuring animals.

He was sentenced Tuesday to one year in jail.

Perillo was arrested in March for allegedly beating a Great Dane named Oliver, punching it and taping its mouth shut with duct tape, officials with the Schenectady County SPCA said.

Responding officers found a large amount of blood on the front porch. They soon found the dog with severe damage to its mouth and jaw. The dog also suffered a possible fractured skull, officials said at the time. They said Perillo admitted to beating the dog and said that he did so after the dog nipped at him.

Perillo also allegedly told officers that he received the dog from a friend to watch while the friend was in jail.

“This goes to show that animal cruelty will not be tolerated in our county. This is a wake-up call to anyone out there guilty of this,” county SPCA department Chief Mathew Tully said in a statement today.

Oliver has since recovered and is living with a new family.