By JIM DOUGLAS / WFAA ABC 8
SPRINGTOWN, Texas - A 20-year-old man was arrested after he admitted that he killed and beheaded a dog in Springtown in northern Parker County.
The dog was a stray dog that had a litter of puppies and that neighbors said befriended children in the neighborhood.
Eleven-year-old Christina DuPree found the dog's body sliced open and the head was left in a front yard.
"They would never feed her so I had to do something so that the puppies wouldn't die," DuPree said of the stray dog she tried to care for.
Police said the way the dog was killed was a serious animal cruelty crime.
"The dog was decapitated and the sword was stuck through the skull and the sword was stuck into the ground," said Deputy Bryan Eddlemon, Parker County Sheriff's Department.
Ricky Moore, 20, was the DuPree family's neighbor and was arrested for the dog's killing.
Sheriff's deputies said he left a phone message with the trailer park manager that described the killing.
"He explained that he went back into his residence and discovered the dog on his property and retrieved his sword and explained how he went after the dog at that point," Eddlemon said.
DuPree said the dog only growled when trying to protect her puppies.
"I called that dog 'Momma Dog,'" DuPree said. "I would always pet her."
Animal Control took in six puppies and immediately adopted out three of them.
"We have been trying to capture that dog for about three weeks," said an Animal Control worker. "She wouldn't come to anybody, [but] she would come to the little children around there because she loved children."
Investigators said the suspect said the dog attempted to bite him. Moore is free on bond, but could face up to two years in jail.
Three female puppies of the dog are up for adoption at the Weatherford Shelter that can be reached at (817) 598-4111.
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