A man who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge after leaving his injured dog on a Colorado mountain has been sentenced to a year of unsupervised probation.

Anthony Ortolani, 29, also was ordered Tuesday to perform 30 hours of community service as part of the plea agreement. Initially, he had been facing 18 months behind bars and a $5,000 fine.

Ortolani, of Westminster, has said he and a climbing companion were hiking Mount Bierstadt in August when bad weather moved in.

He said he tried to carry his five-year-old 112-pound German shepherd mix named Missy off the mountain when she couldn't walk, but he had to abandon her so he and his climbing companion could get to safety, KUSA-TV reported.

'Everybody says, 'Why didn't you go back?” My condition was significantly deteriorated, my emotional condition was no good, I thought she was dead

The pooch suffering from injuries to her paws remained on the peek for eight days until volunteers coordinated a rescue effort after another hiker spotted her.