[StBernard] Police: Man stabbed dog with sword over mess

[Westley Annis]

Police: Man stabbed dog with sword over mess

wwltv.com
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 4:09 PM
Updated yesterday at 5:00 PM

WWLTV.com
ST. BERNARD, La. - A St. Bernard Parish man is facing charges of animal
abuse after he allegedly stabbed a dog in the throat with a 4-foot sword and
nearly beat it to death with a baseball bat.
The animal survived the ordeal, said Chief Deputy James Pohlmann, a
spokesman for the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office.
Ralph Topey, 29, was booked Wednesday with the felony charge of aggravated
cruelty to an animal. He is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison on a
$65,000 bond.
Pohlmann said the incident happened April 5, when Topey, who had been
drinking at a party, became angry after he returned home to find that his
dog made a mess in his room.
A relative of Topey said she saw him walk from his room "in an angry
manner." She followed a trail of blood into the bathroom, where she found
the dog - a pit bull - covered in blood. The woman called another relative
and the two brought the dog to an emergency clinic on the West Bank for
treatment.
Topey was arrested Wednesday after deputies interviewed him. Topey admitted
the beating and stabbing to police, saying he did it out of anger, and told
police where he hid the weapons. Deputies then recovered both the baseball
bat and the sword, which has a blade 4 feet long.
Pohlmann said Topey stabbed all the way through the dog's throat, exiting to
the other side.
The dog is now staying with the relative who took the dog for treatment.