MADISON COUNTY — A Madison County man is facing animal cruelty charges after police say he got angry at the family dog for barking and killed it.
Timothy R. Neill, 26, was arrested on July 5.
According to court documents, police were called to the home just after 4 p.m. by a man claiming his step son had killed the family dog.
Arriving officers found a man holding a small brown dog wearing a "choker chain" in his arms. "I observed the dog did not blink, move or appear to be breathing," court documents quoted the officer as saying. "The dog did not survive the incident and was already dead upon my arrival."
The man told police that his step son, Neill, was in his room when he got angry because the dogs were barking in the front room.
Neill then came out of his room and picked up one of the dogs by its chain which was attached to a "choke chain" and swung it around in a windmill fashion before throwing it into the coffee table. The step father also told police this wasn't the first time that Neill had abuse the dogs.
Neill told police that he became aggravated with the dog because it tried to bite him when he came out of his room. When the officer asked Neill how he did it he replied, "With the leash, It was easy. It was a 20 pound dog," according court documents.
The incident remains under investigation.
