Man Kills Housemate's Dog, Walks Out With Decapitated Head

A man who mutilated his housemate’s dog was “high on drugs” at the time, an Australian court heard, Friday. The man mutilated the Staffordshire terrier by cutting off its head, legs and tail in Adelaide, July 2018.

James Alexander Rech, 20, admitted to a string of offences including animal cruelty and slashing another man with a knife.

Describing the incident as “bizarre” and Rech’s behavior as “unfathomable,” defense lawyer Stephen Ey told the court that he severed the dog’s head and then went outside holding it.

“That is indicative of the bizarre behaviour that the effect of this combination of drugs and medication had upon him. Having committed the terrible act of severing the head of the dog, he’s gone outside holding it up. One can’t fathom what he was thinking at that time,” Ey said.

Ey also said Rech suffered from health problems.

“Clearly he has been and is a very troubled young man,” he said.

Court heard that Rech told the psychologist he loved fighting with others and also felt good by hurting someone else, Yahoo reported.

A lawyer for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said the dog was stabbed 18 times. It had died before it was decapitated.

“It was an extremely cruel, painful and frightful way for that dog to die. It’s difficult to comprehend the terror that dog experienced,” the lawyer said.

Rech will be sentenced later this month.

In a similar incident related to animal cruelty earlier this week, a man was charged for shooting and killing his neighbor’s pet dog with a pellet gun for entering into his yard in Connecticut. The man was cutting wood when his neighbor’s German shepherd entered onto his yard. He then shot it with a pallet gun, puncturing its lung. The dog, named Shane, then went into cardiac arrest and died an hour later.

In another incident, a man threw two pet dogs off a balcony out of jealousy that his wife loved them more than him. Before throwing the dogs, which killed one, the man argued with his wife during which he reportedly said, “You love those dogs more than you love me. I’m going to kill those dogs!” The man was taken into custody and charged with one felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals.