A man and his wife were sentenced to nearly five years in prison Tuesday for failing to control dogs who killed a cancer survivor as he jogged on a rural road.
Lapeer County Judge Nick Holowka said he couldn’t imagine a more “gruesome” death, although he also acknowledged that the owners didn’t intend to have the dogs kill Craig Sytsma.
Sytsma, 46, of Livonia, was mauled by two cane corsos who were loose while he was jogging a year ago in Metamora Township, 45 miles northwest of Detroit. He worked nearby as a metallurgist for a German company.
“He felt safer than running in the city,” his mother, Jacque Sytsma, told reporters. “He felt if he stayed in shape it would keep the cancer away.”
