A Hoffman Estates man will spend at least a year and a half in prison for dumping the body of his emaciated dead dog in a wooded part of Naperville, one of two dogs he starved to death, the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office said.

       Andre Norris, 29, of 1768 Queensbury Circle, was given the maximum 3-year sentence Monday be DuPage Circuit Judge Michael Reidy after Norris pleaded guilty to three counts of felony aggravated cruelty to animals. Per state law, he will not be eligible for parole until he’s served 50% of his term, a state’s attorney’s office news release said.

       Naperville police and animal control officers were called to a trail area near a drainage ditch in March 2020, where they found a dead German shepherd wrapped in a bed sheet inside a storage container, according to reports.

       The dog, which had been named “Otis,” weighed about 20 pounds — 50 pounds less than what an average German shepherd should weigh, the news release said. A necropsy done by the University of Illinois Veterinary School determined Otis had died from canine parvovirus, starvation and rat poisoning.

       Investigators were able to track the dog’s ownership back to Norris and co-owner Sarah Gorski, 21, who lives at the same address as Norris.

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       A search of their home in March 2020 found a German shepherd/hound mix dog locked in a crate filled with animal feces, urine and blood, police said. The emaciated dog, named “Scooby,” weighed 20 pounds and had huge sores.

       A third dog, a corgi named “Bubba,” was found dead in a nearby field wrapped in a sheet, officials said. The dog weighed only four pounds and died of extreme starvation, according to the U of I necropsy findings.

       Norris and Gorski were charged with four felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and two misdemeanor counts of unlawful disposal of an animal. The charges against Norris were reduced as part of the plea agreement.

       Gorski’s case is still pending. She is scheduled to be in court Nov. 10.

       “The conditions in which Mr. Norris kept these poor, defenseless animals were just sickening, and the manner in which they died is heartbreaking,” State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release.

       “With Mr. Norris responsible for their well-being, Otis and Bubba never stood a chance. They both died a horrible, painful unnecessary deaths as a result of not being fed or properly cared for. Thankfully, Scooby has made a full recovery and is living happily with his foster family,” he said.

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