Man Pleads Guilty In Dog Fighting Case

AUSTIN (AP) — An Austin man has pleaded guilty to torturing an animal to settle allegations he was training dogs to fight.

Twenty-six-year-old Douglas Wayne Seidel was charged in October with two felony counts of mistreating animals. He faces up to three years in prison and $5,000 in fines when he's sentenced in February.

According to a criminal complaint, a man told police that he believed Seidel had his two pit bull terriers attack another pit bull terrier named Jax. Officers found Jax's body on Seidel's back deck.

He told officers an intruder had broken in and provoked them into fighting.

Seidel entered his plea Wednesday in Mower County District Court.