BALLSTON SPA -- A Clifton Park man will spend the next two years in the Saratoga County jail after he killed a dog in a cruel manner, county prosecutors said Friday.

Hank D. Smith, 27, of Huntridge Drive, admitted he killed a miniature pinscher called Nicholas in April with aggravated cruelty, District Attorney Karen Heggen said. Police said the dog was discarded in a garbage bin.

At the sentencing, the dog's owner, Terri Brewer, talked about the dog and shared with County Judge James A. Murphy III photos of Nicholas she keeps on her phone. She said she considered the dog a member of her family.

Smith, convicted of the felony aggravated cruelty to animals under Buster's Law, is banned from having any animals for an indefinite period of time.

The two-year sentence is the maximum allowed by law, Heggen said.