In court Wednesday, a young Edmonton man entered a guilty plea, for charges he faced in connection to brutal beatings on a puppy neighbours witnessed last year.

In the summer of 2012, Stephen and Yvonne Scott said they witnessed two horrific incidents, where one of their neighbours brutally beat a young puppy in his backyard.

“I was just in my house one day,” Yvonne Scott said. “I heard something and looked out and was just so horrified by what I saw, and it just affected us so greatly.”

What Scott and some other witnesses saw was Zeus, a border collie – who eventually ended up in the care of the Humane Society.

However, the dog’s former owner and the man accused in the abuse appeared in an Edmonton courtroom Wednesday.

Kristopher David Barwell, 20, pleaded guilty to causing injury, wounding or maiming an animal.

In court, an agreed statement of facts was presented, where his neighbours outlined multiple incidents of abuse.

On one occasion, neighbours described seeing Barwell pinning the puppy down in the backyard, and punching it with what some witnesses described as “extreme force”.

“I can’t imagine what any animal or person could do to deserve to be treated that way,” Yvonne Scott said. “The impact of the beating that I saw, I’m sure would have broken my bones, and I’m over 100 pounds larger than the puppy was at the time.”

When veterinarians there first saw the dog, it was thought he might not survive – both of his hips were broken and he couldn’t stand, he had wounds all over his body that were infested with maggots, and two bullets were found in his thigh and his tail.

One neighbour said hearing exactly what happened to the dog in court Wednesday was shocking.

“I was surprised; I knew some of the facts, but the extent of the injuries were pretty shocking, pretty horrific,” Stephen Scott said.

Now, after extensive treatment including two artificial hips, that very dog is armed with a new name, Kaden – which roughly translates to ‘warrior’ – and family, and has a second chance at life.

Regardless, the Crown Prosecutor on the case told CTV News this is a dire case.

“This case here is so serious to the point that it’s probably one of our worst,” Crown Prosecutor Christian Lim said Wednesday. “We are going to have to ask for jail time.”

As for sentencing, before a date is set a psychological report on the accused will be completed, and those affected by the abuse will write victim impact statements to be submitted in court.

With files from David Ewasuk