Posted: Dec 5, 2012 10:47 AM by Matt Stafford
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - An El Paso County jury has convicted a former Colorado Springs couple of animal cruelty over treatment of a lamb they planned to sacrifice as part of a religious observance.
Periz Jackson and Elijah Black face up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine after jurors on Tuesday found them guilty of leaving the animal in a locked closet with no water and tethered by a heavy chain.
Our news partners at the Gazette report, Jackson and Black belong to a religious sect called the Hebrew-Israelites.
Authorities say the pair purchased the sacrificial lamb for $250 from a livestock grower east of Denver in early April. They planned to slaughter and roast the male yearling on Passover in their Colorado Springs apartment.