One of two Hawaii men accused of stealing and killing a pet pig to cheat in a hunting contest has been sentenced, prompting criticism from animal advocacy groups that say his punishment doesn’t reflect the seriousness of the crime.
Jayden Jarnesky-Magana, 19, was sentenced Wednesday to one night in jail and four years of probation after pleading no contest to charges of animal cruelty, theft and property damage, Hawaii News Now reported.
Prosecutors said that Jarnesky-Magana and 20-year-old Krys-Ryan Saito Carino, who has not yet faced trial, stole a 250-pound male pig named Eddie from his pen at animal sanctuary Kitty Charm Farm in Haiku last year and killed him. They presented Eddie at a local feral pig hunting competition and won, walking away with a $1,000 prize.
Kitty Charm Farm founder Sarah Haynes adopted Eddie after he was found running loose covered in scars, leading rescuers to believe he had been used to train hunting dogs, she told local news station KHON2.
“I adopted him and built a big enclosure and a house and a pool and all sorts of stuff,” she said. “And I promised him a good life and that I would keep him away from that kind of treatment.”
Around three dozen people demonstrated outside of the courthouse before the sentencing hearing, chanting things like “no excuse for animal abuse,” according to a report from Gray News and local news outlet KHNL.
Prior to the sentencing, Jarnesky-Magana’s lawyer, Wendy Hudson, read a statement on his behalf.
“I would like to start by saying that I’ve made a mistake and it was not intentional. I’ve learned a lesson and I’m not a bad kid,” she read. “I’ve always been a good kid and never gotten in any trouble.”
In his statement, he requested a sentence of community service before adding, “I am very sorry, please forgive me,” per Island News Now.
Circuit Court Judge Kirstin Hamman said the sentence sent “the proper message regarding the nature of the crime that was committed.”
Kitty Charm Farm criticized the sentence on social media.
“We fear the message this sends to our community, which is riddled with animal abuse and very little prosecution,” the sanctuary wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Maui Humane Society shared its own statement, saying it was “deeply disappointed” in the outcome.
“We believe the sentence handed down fails to reflect the severity of the crime and the suffering Eddie endured,” the humane society’s statement read. “When acts of animal cruelty are not met with appropriate consequences, it sends a dangerous message — that the abuse and killing of animals is not taken seriously.”
