GRAND ISLAND – A Western New York man has plead guilty to fatally injuring a dog last year.

The Erie County District Attorney’s Office reports that 43-year-old Brian Cline, of Grand Island, plead guilty to felony aggravated cruelty to animals on Friday.

Prosecutors say Cline admitted to intentionally hitting and kicking a toy poodle in March 2020 at a home on Baseline Road in the Town of Grand Island.

The owner of the house returned later in the morning to find their dog deceased in a crate. A necropsy determined that the dog died from blunt force trauma.

Cline faces a maximum of two years in jail when he is sentenced on Friday, January 14 at 9:30 a.m. He remains released on his own recognizance as the charge is non-qualifying for bail.