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Case #19171 Rating: 1.7 out of 5
Puppy stabbed 11 times by owner, put in dumpster
Abilene, TX (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Jan 22, 2012
County: Taylor
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Larry Dollins, Jr.
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
After being stabbed 11 times and left to die alone in a dumpster, 14-week-old "Taz" is recovering from surgery. She's eating and drinking for the first time on her own since the attack on Sunday.
KTXS met the animal lover who saw "Taz" being stabbed and then saved her life by calling police.
"I said Larry, please stop stabbing that dog" said Cheryl Ascol, who is still shaken-up as she described to us watching her neighbor repeatedly stab his puppy.
"I thought the dog was dead because by that time he was just hanging there," Ascol said.
With the urging of her friend Rosie, Ascol got the courage to call police and report the animal cruelty.
"The police brought the dog to my porch, asked me for a towel," Ascol said, "And I saw the dog wag its tail."
"Taz" miraculously survived thanks to Ascol alerting authorities, but leaving the question how could someone do this to a helpless animal.
Dr. Marc Orner, an Abilene psychotherapist, said the kind of person who commits this crime feels insecure and as a result preys on something less powerful.
"A puppy is a prime example of that," said Dr. Orner.
He said "Taz" being stabbed 11 times is also a telling detail.
"That's not anger, that's rage," said Dr. Orner, "So something else was raging in this individual."
Larry Dollins confessed to the crime when police arrived on the scene and was arrested.
His neighbor and friend told KTXS Dollins was not a bad person and he loved the puppy. That is until some recent strange behavior.
"I actually saw a change in this guy," said Robert Thompson.
Dollins is no stranger to crime, Thompson believes a powerful drug addiction is behind this sudden act of violence.
"If it wasn't the dog it would have been a kid or someone else," Thompson said.
Luckily the only victim of Dollins' anger is recovering well.
"She's a beautiful little puppy!" said Ascol, "She's a tough little puppy too."
Dollins is now in custody on state jail felony animal cruelty charges.
If you are interested in adopting "Taz," there is a waiting list.
Contact the Abilene Animal Shelter located at 925 South 25th to be added to the adoption list.
"Taz" will have to stay at the shelter for a short time for legal reasons, but applications for her adoption are now being accepted.
Case UpdatesAn Abilene man who received national media attention for stabbing his puppy 11 times then tossing her in the Dumpster last month was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday.
Larry Dollins Jr., 42, pleaded guilty in the 350th District Court to one count of cruelty to animals and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Dollins, a felon, also accepted a six-year sentence on a motion to revoke his probation.
The sentences, however, were ordered to run concurrently.
On. Jan. 23, Dollins was arrested a day after his neighbor told police that she saw him stabbing his puppy, Taza.
Officers found the then-14-week-old puppy in a city-owned trash container behind his residence in the 500 block of Sammons Street.
The puppy survived the attack, and on Feb. 3, Taza received a new home when he was adopted by Maegan Jennings, a Key City Veterinary Clinic worker, who helped in her recovery.
Jennings was selected by the city from a list of nearly three dozen people who wanted to take the pup home.
Dollins is in custody at the Taylor County Jail, where he is awaiting transfer to a state prison.
Before his most recent arrest, Dollins was serving a 10-year probationary sentence for a 2007 controlled-substance conviction. | Source: reporternews.com - Feb 15, 2012
Update posted on Feb 16, 2012 - 8:10PM |
Larry Dollins Jr. used the sleeve of his blaze-orange jumpsuit to wipe the tears from his eyes.
"I love my dog," he said. "I wasn't trying to be cruel. I was trying to take care of it."
Speaking through the tinny phone lines of a visitation window at the Taylor County Jail on Tuesday, Dollins explained that stabbing his 14-week-old female puppy was �" in his eyes �" an act of kindness, not the intentional torture of which he has been accused.
Dollins, 42, was arrested late Monday afternoon and charged with cruelty to animals, a state jail felony, after the injured dog was found in a Dumpster near his house. He was serving 10 years probation for a 2007 drug conviction.
A motion to revoke his probation was filed in district court Tuesday. Dollins is being held in the county jail without bond on a probation violation warrant.
Dollins said he admitted to police that he stabbed the puppy several times Sunday before putting it in the Dumpster. He was trying to put the dog down, he said, because the dog was suffering from intestinal worms and heartworms and he could not afford veterinary treatment.
"I only make $280 every two weeks, and I couldn't afford to take her to a vet, or get medication for her," he said. "I didn't know you could just drop a dog off at the pound if you couldn't afford it."
So he decided to put Taza down to end her suffering, he said.
"It was not an easy decision. It took me two hours to work up the nerve to go out there and do it," he said. "I'm on probation and I can't carry a gun. If I could, I would have just shot it in the head and been quick about it."
Dollins said he used a knife he dug up while doing plumbing work in his yard. He said stabbing the dog was "the most sane way" he could think of to end the dog's life.
"They said I stabbed her, like, 13 times. I only remember stabbing her about 5 times, in the side. That was hard enough for me to do," Dollins said. "But, I didn't want to burden anyone else with doing it."
Dollins said he told his probation officer about putting Taza down during a meeting at 9:15 a.m. Monday.
Abilene Police Detective Ernest Moscarelli said the veterinarian treating the puppy indicated the animal was not sick before being stabbed.
Dollins - who has lived in Abilene most of his life, and attended Abilene High but did not graduate - said the dog's name has been erroneously reported as "Taz," which he said was a boy's name.
Dollins said he had remorse for his actions, and that he was glad to learn Taza was expected to survive.
"If someone wants to adopt her and give her a good home, that's fine," Dollins said. "But that's not anything I didn't try to do."
Animal cruelty is a state jail felony punishable by up to two years in prison. If Dollins' probation is revoked, he could face up to 10 years in prison for his 2007 conviction on possession of a controlled substance.
To adopt Taza
Anyone wishing to adopt Taza should go to the Abilene Animal Shelter, 925 South 25th St., in person to place their names on an adoption list.
Applications for adoption are being accepted now, but the dog will have to be housed at the shelter for a period of time for legal reasons, said Abilene Police Detective John Clark. | Source: reporternews.com - Jan 24, 2012
Update posted on Jan 24, 2012 - 10:11PM |
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