NEW YORK: A banker who was accused of stomping and beating his landlord's Boston terrier to death pleaded guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor animal cruelty charges.

Tafik Habib, 40, pleaded guilty to "overdriving, torturing and injuring'' an animal, a violation of the state's agricultural law. He admitted to the court he kicked the 15-pound (6.8-kilogram) dog and beat her with an umbrella.

The terrier, named Sasha, was nearly 3 years old and had a litter of 7-week-old puppies. Her owner, Elefterios Bonaros, wept profusely as Habib pleaded guilty to killing the dog on Jan. 10 in Bonaros' Upper West Side Manhattan apartment.

Habib's plea deal requires him to do 175 hours of community service at an AIDS hospice, pay $160 court costs, and spend six days in jail.

State Supreme Court Justice Carol Berkman told Habib, "I happen to be an animal lover myself," and warned that she would give him more jail time if he does not successfully complete the community service.

Habib faced up to a year in jail if he had been convicted after trial.

Earl Ward, Habib's lawyer, said his client moved temporarily to New York from Florida for work and rented a room from Bonaros. Bonaros said his tenant let him know quickly that he did not like dogs.

"He said they were useless and served no purpose,'' Bonaros said.

Bonaros, 51, said he left home for 20 minutes while Habib was out.

"When I got back I knew something was wrong because the dogs didn't come to meet me,'' he said in the courthouse lobby. Bonaros said he found Sasha inside, covered with a towel; her head had been smashed. Sasha's mate, Rocky, died a few months later, he said.

Bonaros, a retired travel agency owner, said the puppies were not injured. He has kept two, including Sashita, named for her mother.