Dog stabbed 9 times gets new life with vet who saved her

CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJBK) - A Chesterfield Township man is accused of stabbing a dog nine times because it defecated on his floor. Now, the man is in jail and the dog is getting a new life: with the vet who saved her.

The incident happened on February 1. The Clinton Township Police Department  was investigating a case of animal cruelty and determined the crime happened in Chesterfield. The pit-bull mix had been taken to Advanced Animal Emergency on Gratiot with nine stab wounds.

The woman who brought the dog in said her ex-boyfriend had stabbed the dog. She was unwilling to give details about the man's name or location. However, police were able to identify him as Patrick O'Connor.

On February 10, Chesterfield police were called to a domestic violence call at the Georgetown apartments around 3:30 a.m. where O'Connor was found and arrested for assaulting a 29-year-old woman.

While being held for the domestic violence charge, police asked him about the injured dog. He told police that he had 'an alcohol and anger management problem". He then said "I did what I did".  Investigators believe that  the reason he attacked the dog was that it had defecated on the floor in his apartment.

O'Connor was charged with domestic violence and torture/killing of an animal. He was arraigned on Wednesday and is in the Macomb County Jail on a $200,000 bond. If convicted, he could get up to four years in prison.

The dog is being adopted by one of the veterinarians who cared for the dog.