ATHENS, GA -- Police arrested an Athens man last week and charged him with animal cruelty after he attacked his neighbor's dog.
Joshua Allen admitted to police to having attacked his neighbor's dog. He says the dog's incessant barking has been a problem for several years, and that he had gone to court with his neighbors several times in an effort to get the problem taken care of.
Since the dog would not quit barking, Allen says he took the matter into his own hands.
According to a police report, he took his handgun, stood at the fence at the edge of his property, and shot the dog three or four times. When the dog didn't die and "appeared to be suffering," Allen grabbed a baseball bat, hopped the fence into his neighbor's backyard, and began smacking the dog in an attempt to end the dog's life.
"The owner of the dog at this point, realizing something was wrong with his dog, could hear the dog's cry for help (and) goes outside.(then) confronts the suspect who was beating his dog," said Athens Police Department Spokesperson Epifanio Rodriguez. "At that point, is when the suspect left, went back to his property and called us at the same time, the owner was calling."
The neighbor, Ryan Olivera, heard the dog yelping and screaming as it was being struck, and ran outside to find Allen, baseball bat in hand, beating his dog. Police said that Allen stopped and told Olivera he would go home and call police himself.
When police arrived, Allen was arrested and charged with reckless conduct and felony cruelty to animals.
The dog was taken to a veterinarian, where it was euthanized as a result of its injuries.
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