 Dog beaten and stabbed to death
Caseyville, IL (US)Date: Nov 9, 2004
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Ryan A. Tolbert
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A 23-year-old Alhambra man is accused of beating and stabbing a dog to death in Caseyville less than 24 hours after borrowing the dog to breed. Ryan A. Tolbert was arrested on Thanksgiving in Alhambra, accused of killing Bubba, a 1-year-old mixed-breed dog, on Nov. 9 with a knife and a rubber mallet while visiting his girlfriend in Caseyville.
Tolbert was charged with two counts of animal torture and two counts of aggravated battery in St. Clair County.
Bubba was borrowed on Nov. 8 for breeding purposes from Darrin Starks of Highland, the son of the dog's owner, Gale Starks, also of Highland.
Police said Tolbert alleged the dog attacked him when he tried to breed the dog with his female dog. After being bitten on the left index finger, Tolbert told police he initially grabbed the first thing he could find, which was a rubber mallet, to strike the dog. But, police found no signs of injury on Tolbert's hand.
Witnesses told police they heard the dog yelping in the back yard while Tolbert continued to beat it.
While at the station, Tolbert told police he initially used a kitchen knife to slice the dog's throat. But, police said he changed his answers about the sequence of events and said he used the mallet first to hit the dog and then used the knife to put the dog out of its misery.
Tolbert told police that he killed the dog for the safety of the children in his girlfriend's house and the neighborhood.
Police found traces of the dog's blood in the back yard on a wooden fence and on the ground. The dog's remains were found in a trash bag in a trash bin outside the house at 8711 Parkdale Drive.
When Tolbert returned to the house shortly after the police arrived about 7 a.m. Nov. 9, he was still covered in the dog's blood.
Bubba's owner, Gale Starks, said the dog never bit anyone and was friendly.
"(Bubba) was a member of our family and everyone loved him, so I want Ryan Tolbert prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Starks in her written statement to police.
Starks, who adopted Bubba when he was 8 weeks old, did not find out about the dog's death until a week after his death.
Tolbert remains in custody at the jail in lieu of $75,000 bail. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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