CECIL COUNTY, Maryland — A 25-year-old Maryland man was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of animal cruelty after a state trooper was forced to end the suffering of a dog he had stabbed.
Reginald L. Farley II, of North East, Maryland, is accused of stabbing his dog after it attacked his neighbor’s dog.
The incident happened shortly after 11 p.m. Police were called to the 100 block of Seneca Court in North East for the report of a dog attack. When the trooper arrived, a resident told him a neighbor’s dog, later identified as one belonging to Farley, had attacked her dog. She said Farley had retrieved his dog and taken it back to his residence nearby.
While the trooper was interviewing the resident, he heard the sound of a dog loudly helping from the direction of Farley’s residence. The trooper investigated, found Farley, and asked about the sound.
Farley allegedly told the trooper the dog had been stabbed and was now dead, police say.
The trooper asked to see the dog, and was taken to the back yard of Farley’s home. The trooper found the dog, a pit bull, was seriously wounded but still alive. The dog had a large knife protruding from its back, police say. Determining that the animal had little chance of survival and was suffering severely, the trooper shot the dog to end its misery, according to police.
Police determined that Farley stabbed the dog after returning home with it after the attack on his neighbor’s dog. Farley was arrested and taken to the North East Barracks for processing.
The neighbor’s dog, a German shepherd, was injured in the attack, but is expected to survive.
