Laws that can be used to put cretins in prison can, in the wrong hands, be used to put non-cretins in prison. Everyone’s for the enforcement of the law as long as it suits their purpose, but when the police are coming after them, then they think it’s unfair. The guy’s six priors had nothing to do with animal abuse—they shouldn’t have figured into this case. He’s an obvious jerk, that’s for sure, but if that’s the standard for imprisonment, 85% of our population should be lock up right now, including myself.
Thus, he got the max.
He gets to serve it in a county jail, which means he will likely be spared becoming someone's girlfriend.
Who cares if he's a jerk? He's a felon, plain and simple. I don't care if you happen to like it or not, but what he did to that dog is felony in Texas. People who don't like it are free to take one of the many highways out of Texas.
He deserves to be punished for torturing the dog. His priors may not have anything to do with it and being a jerk may not be punishable, but being a psychopath does. He taped the dogs mouth shut to get back at someone he was pissed at. Typical paranoid psychotic speed freak behavior. He's fried his brain with speed. Prison is, likely, the only environment that he is suited for anymore.