Animal cruelty and culpable negligence charges have been dropped against a man whose dogs escaped from his home and killed a small mixed-breed named Bella as she was being walked.

Nathaniel Pettiford, 43, was cleared of charges when a man who was in his house at the time of the September 2018 attack took responsibility.

Larry Howard, 48, pleaded no contest to animal cruelty and culpable negligence.

"He ended up taking full blame," said State Attorney Bill Cervone. "He said Pettiford was somewhere else when the dogs got out. Howard said it’s all his fault, that he took full responsibility."

"With that, the odds of convicting Pettiford went down close to zero," Cervone said.

Howard was sentenced Monday to 30 days in jail and a year of probation. He was ordered to pay $833 in restitution to Bella’s owner, Linda Swinburn, and $276 in court costs.

Swinburn, who no longer lives in Gainesville, said by email Tuesday that the pain and loss caused by the attack will last her lifetime.

"Justice wasn’t served and I am VERY disappointed with the Justice system in Florida," Swinburn wrote. "The plea that was offered should have been given to both Nathaniel Pettiford and Larry Howard because they are both irresponsible owners who caused the murder of my emotional therapy dog BELLA."

On Sept. 22, 2018, three dogs described as pit bulls are believed to have breached the 4-foot backyard fence at Pettiford’s home at 5806 NW 29th Terrace in the Northwood Pines neighborhood.

They charged across the street and attacked Bella, who died later at an animal hospital. Swinburn was injured trying to fend off the dogs.

Pettiford’s dogs also escaped once in 2017 and two times in 2018 in addition to the Bella attack, according to Pettiford’s arrest affidavit. They attacked a small dog in the 2017 case and menaced neighbors in the 2018 incidents.

The dogs were eventually declared dangerous by Alachua County and euthanized.

Bella’s case was one of several severe dog attacks in recent years throughout Gainesville and a fatal mauling in High Springs.

In March 2019, a block over from Pettiford’s house, five dogs escaped from a house and terrorized the neighborhood.

Police killed one of the canines and another likely died from suffocation as neighbors tried to hold it down.