January 7, 2009

After slashing his dog to death with a sword in September, Robert Allen Young Jr. was sentenced yesterday to one year in jail. (Pet Pulse Illustration by Tim Mattson)

CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- A man who slashed his dog to death with a sword was sentenced to one year in prison yesterday.

Robert Allen Young Jr. pleaded guilty to killing his 50-pound male Pit Bull in his Chesapeake, Va., home on Sept. 7. At his Tuesday sentencing, Young, the 46-year-old husband and father of two, offered no defense of the abuse.

Authorities were alerted to the crime when neighbors reported seeing Young "instigating his dog with some type of sword" outside his home at Chesapeake Mobile Home Park, as Pet Pulse previously reported.

Neighbors then watched as Young took the dog into the home and re-emerged 15 minutes later with the Pit's slashed body, which he deposited into a trash bin.

Young was arrested that evening and charged with animal cruelty, as well as failure to vaccinate his dog for rabies and register it with the city of Chesapeake.

He was reported to have been very intoxicated at the time of the crime, which Young attributed to self defense. Deputy Public Defender A. Robinson Winn said his client was "highly intoxicated" at the time of the incident.

While the dog had no documented history of aggression, Winn said that the Pit Bull had lunged at Young before, as well as at other animals.

"He said the dog had been aggressive in the past and on this date in question and he killed the dog," Winn said.

Young received a five-year sentence with four years suspended, contingent on indeterminate supervised probation. In Virginia, animal cruelty is considered a felony, generally warranting no more than a one year prison sentence.

The unusual weapon of choice in this gruesome animal cruelty case was reminiscent of a case in mid-July, when a Pennsylvania man killed his wife's American bulldog mix with a 30-inch Samurai-style sword, as Pet Pulse previously reported.

In that case, the police of Ridlely Township confiscated 20 daggers and 10 swords from the accused's home.

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Pet Pulse reporter Amy Lieberman, The Daily Press and HamptonRoads.com contributed to this article.