It's rare on this blog that we report that an animal abuser has been sent to prison.
But such is the case with a Chester County woman who pleaded guilty to an array of charges stemming from the discovery of a brutal dog fighting operation.
Laura Acompora, 34, was sentenced to 23 months in prison by a judge Monday on charges including animal cruelty and child endangerment.
Acompora exposed her young child to horrific scenes of torture and death, including a dog being stomped to death by a group of men and a pit bull eating another dog, reports my Inquirer colleague Tricia Nadonly.
Acompora's husband, Shane Santiago, the mastermind of the operation, also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced Dec. 17.
When officers searched the residence last December, they found syringes, antibiotics, and a medical stapler, which Santiago later admitted using to tend to the dogs' wounds. Bloody carpet was rolled up in the yard, near planks used to build a 15- by 15-foot fighting ring. In a garbage can, a dead newborn puppy was stuffed into a white trash bag.
Electrical cables used to kill the dogs were found in the blood-splattered basement.
The first clues about the vicious crimes going on in the West Brandywine Township house were the discoeries of the bodies of burned dogs in crates by the side of the road last year.
More on the story here.