A Palm Bay man will go  to prison for stabbing his dog, Doobie, in the eye with scissors in an apparent attempt to kill him.

Judge Kathryn Speicher sentenced PAUL R. HEINEMANN, on June 23 to five years in state prison for animal cruelty resulting in pain or suffering, the maximum for the third-degree felony. Brevard County prosecutors Alfred Marten and Bernadette Serafinowicz convicted Heinemann, 37, at a jury trial in May.

“The dog did  not provoke Mr. Heinemann, the dog did not attack Mr. Heinemann, there was no reason for this to occur,” Marten told the judge. “It was a senseless act.”

Heinemann attacked Doobie, a black labrador retriever-boxer-mix, as he sat with the 10-year-old dog on the floor of his widowed stepmother’s home in Palm Bay in March 2025. The stepmother said she heard Heinemann say, “I was meant to kill the dog” and move to stab Doobie again. But she grabbed the scissors away from Heinemann and called police.

Palm Bay Police officers who responded found the bloody scissors inside the home along with the dog, who was “excessively panting with a stab to the right eye,” the arrest report says. They arrested Heinemann, and Animal Control took the dog for veterinary treatment.

Doobie survived his wound but later passed away from an illness while in the care of another family member.

At sentencing, Marten called for incarceration and mental health or anger management treatment for Heinemann to prevent future problems. But Heinemann told the judge he has never suffered from any mental health issues.

Besides prison, Speicher called for Heinemann to be added to Florida’s statewide animal abuser registry. Animal shelters, rescue groups, and commercial pet sellers now consult the public database before allowing people to adopt, purchase, or otherwise obtain dogs and cats.

Heinemann received credit for 15 months already served at the Brevard County Jail while awaiting trial and sentencing.