A 19-year-old Calgary man who entered a guilty plea in connection to the starvation deaths of a Siberian husky and the strangulation death of a cat will undergo a court ordered psych examination prior to his sentencing.

On Thursday morning, further examination of Nicolino Ivano Camardi’s mental state was ordered in a Calgary courtroom.

“One of the things that a psychiatrist will be asked to assess is what risk the accused poses in terms of reoffending," said Crown prosecutor Gord Haight. " Obviously, the greater the risk, that would have a substantial effect on sentencing, likely to the accused’s detriment.”

Camardi's defence councillor, Jack Kelly, says the timing of the assessment order could result in his client serving excessive time in custody, given the likely sentence for his offences.

“Mr. Camardi was prepared to cooperate with the reports had they been requests far earlier than now,” said Jack Kelly, Camardi's defence attorney. “As I said to Judge Gaschler, we believe that it’s likely he will be detained longer than a reasonable sentence, an appropriate sentence, if applied to Mr. Camardi, that sentence would be, very likely, to be not much more than he’s spent in pre-trial custody."

Earlier this month, Camardi pleaded guilty to charges related to animal cruelty in connection to the discovery of the remains of two animals in a southeast neighbourhood in January of 2014. Camardi’s bail application was denied.

The 19-year-old’s sentencing is scheduled for February 26, 2015.