He killed his daughter’s dog after it tried to bite him. A Delco judge sentenced him to probation.

A Brookhaven man was sentenced to three years of probation after admitting that he killed a dog his daughter had rescued from the Providence Animal Center.

David Saxton, 62, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals in the October death of Denali, a 60-pound coonhound, during a brief hearing Monday before Delaware County Court Judge Mary Alice Brennan.

Saxton told investigators that Denali had tried to lunge at him and bite him in his living room, and that the dog had previously bitten other members of his family.

He said he strangled the dog with its leash, and then beat it in the head with a metal candleholder when he saw it was still breathing. Saxton also said he slit the dog’s throat with a kitchen knife and buried its body in his backyard, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.

At the time of the dog’s death, the family said they were trying to return the dog to the shelter because of its behavioral issues.

Assistant District Attorney Sean McNabb asked Brennan to sentence Saxton to time in county jail, saying the facts of the case were “brutal and horrific,” and had garnered widespread attention from animal rights activists, many of whom had crowded into Brenann’s courtroom for the proceeding.

“It seems too often that animal abusers and animal killers do receive sentences that are mitigated, that are probationary sentences,” McNabb said. “And that’s why [the activists] continue to show the support they do and protest those mitigated sentences.”

Saxton’s attorney, Christine Cregar, argued for him to be sentenced to probation, saying that he had no history of violence, had taken care of dogs his entire life, and had cooperated with investigators and prosecutors.

“He did not wake up that morning with the intent to kill that dog,” Cregar said. “Unfortunately, Denali had some behavioral issues, with a documented history of biting previous owners and of biting other members of the Saxton family.”

She noted that Saxton and his family had contacted 15 shelters in an attempt to surrender the dog, but had been unsuccessful.

Erica Saxton adopted Denali on Aug. 26 from Providence Animal Shelter, according to the affidavit. At the time, she was notified of Denali’s behavioral history, and signed a liability waiver saying the dog may need professional training.

On Oct. 4, she submitted a formal request to surrender Denali, telling the shelter that the dog had bitten her. The shelter initially agreed to take the dog back on Oct. 20, but moved that date up to Oct. 10 after David Saxton’s wife, who was recovering from breast cancer, reported that the dog had bitten her, as well.

The day before, a Humane Society officer performed a welfare check at the Saxton family’s home after shelter workers learned that the Saxtons had made appointments at two veterinarian offices for Denali to be euthanized, both of which were later canceled, according to testimony at Saxton’s preliminary hearing. No one was home at the time.

David Saxton then turned himself in to Brookhaven Police days later.

In an interview with detectives, Saxton admitted he had killed the dog and that he was “not proud of what he did,” the affidavit said. Saxton said he had come home from work and was sitting on his living room couch taking off his work boots when Denali started barking and lunging at him.

Saxton repeatedly pushed the dog away, but Denali returned to nip at his ear. Saxton told Bell he “snapped” and grabbed the dog’s leash, the affidavit said, before strangling and beating it to death.

After killing Denali, Saxton wrapped the dog in a trash bag and buried it in his backyard. Investigators later recovered the dog’s corpse from that makeshift grave.