Dog beaten in the head with gun, then shot
Fairdale , KY (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Jan 1, 2011
County: Jefferson
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Justin Renfro
Police say a Fairdale man tortured his dog by beating it in the head with a gun, and then shot it in the head. However, according to his arrest record this is the latest incident in a string of violence. The incident in question happened last month, but the suspect was not charged with the crime until Sunday.
Animal control officials describe the incident as heinous and cruel, and a possible warning sign that the suspect needs serious help. From the cold, wet ground behind his Fairdale home, animal control officers dug up the body of a pitbull named Neil.
Officers say he was buried there by his owner, 20-year-old Justin Renfro, who they say tortured the dog in front of his female roommate while sitting on his couch. "He apparently beat the dog with the butt of a rifle and then left the dog there to suffer. And then later went and shot it," says Jackie Gulbe of Louisville Animal Control.
We spoke to Renfro's father about the incident. Renfro's father said "They got it all backwards. He's got a lawyer who's told him not to talk to nobody."
WHAS11 has discovered Renfro was arrested back in 2008 for allegedly throwing bricks through a window at a Pic-Pac grocery store. However, Refro faced much more serious charges last year after allegedly sending text messages to his former girlfriend telling her "ur days are till number real short," and insulting her.
That incident also led the victim to file a domestic violence protection order against Renfro, indicating he threatened to kill her and that he told her he would cut the brake lines on her car. That victim was too afraid of Renfro to talk to WHAS11 Monday.
"They definitely do see a link between animal abuse and domestic violence, child abuse, violent crimes in general. So there definitely is a tie there," says Gulbe.
These cases may also be increasing. In late December, Alex Phelps was charged with torturing cats after allegedly acquiring them on craigslist, and then performing experiments on them before killing them.
"People are more aware and they're reporting it. Who knows how long things like this have gone on and people have swept it under the rug," says Gulbe.
Renfro is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon on charges of animal torture, cruelty to an animal and tampering with physical evidence. References |
