Pet Dog Stabbed In Front Of Owners By Neighbor For Running Into His Property, Euthanized

A man from Crestwood, Missouri, was charged with animal abuse Monday for stabbing his neighbor’s dog after the canine ran onto his property.

According to the charging documents filed Monday, police responded to the home Saturday afternoon after getting reports of a dog being stabbed. Upon arrival, the dog’s owner, William Parker and his wife Robin Steele, told the officers that one of their pets was stabbed by their neighbor for running onto his property.

Explaining what happened, the owners told police that their two dogs, Teddy and Raven, ran onto 59-year-old John Ross’s property. Ross chased the dogs before grabbing Teddy and slamming him to the ground. The man then stabbed the canine multiple times with a pocketknife. The dog managed to escape and ran back to its owners, bleeding extensively. Teddy was rushed to a nearby animal hospital. However, the dog had to be put down due to the severity of its injuries. The vet told the owners that the canine had suffered seven stab wounds.

Calling Teddy “the sweetest dog ever,” Steele told the officers that the canine would never hurt anyone. Meanwhile, during police interrogation, Ross confessed to the crime but said he stabbed the canine after it charged at him and bit his hand. He also showed his injuries to the officers, however, they weren’t convinced that the injuries were bite marks.

The accused was arrested and charged with felony, unlawful use of a weapon along with animal abuse. His bail was set at $2,500 and according to reports, he was out of jail as of Monday.

Meanwhile, Steele’s attorney was looking at getting a restraining order against the accused.

Calling the attack “particularly brutal,” the attorney, Dan Kolde, said, “He didn’t stab the dog once, but seven times, which strikes me as there being some rage involved.”

Kolde added that there are other ways to handle dogs that enter into property.

“You call animal control and the owner gets a ticket. You don’t resort to vigilante justice. You’re obviously allowed to defend yourself. But you’re not allowed to take the law into your own hands and kill somebody’s pet because you didn’t like them in your yard,” Kolde said. Investigation was ongoing and no further court date was set as of Monday.