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OC Man Charged After Puppy Chews Off Own Leg to Escape Being Chained

The family initially told shelter officials that they didn't know what happened to Rocky's foot, but that they thought he might have "eaten it". (Credit: KTLA)

The Orange County man whose German shepherd chewed off his own leg after being tied up outside for a week has been charged with animal abuse and faces up to one year in jail if convicted, prosecutors said.

Samer Samir Ibrahim, 23, is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday at a Westminster courthouse on misdemeanor counts of animal abuse and improperly caring for his animal, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Between Nov. 2 and Nov. 8, 2014, the 11-month-old Rocky was tethered in the backyard of Ibrahim’s home, where the dog was poorly fed and beset by fleas. State law allows tethering a dog for up to three hours within a 24-hour period.

During that week, the dog’s leg became tangled in the tether, cutting off blood flow, prosecutors said. Rocky chewed off about 4 to 5 inches of his leg to get free.

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