Dog stabbed, hanged
Mesa, AZ (US)

Incident Date: Monday, Jun 6, 2005
County: Maricopa

Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Salvador Rodriguez

Case Updates: 4 update(s) available

A 23-year-old Mesa man upset with his wife tried to kill her dog by stabbing and hanging the animal six feet in the air with an electric cord, barbell and weights, police stated.

Salvador Rodriguez was arrested June 6  on suspicion of a felony charge of animal cruelty and criminal damage.

Rodriguez told police he tried to kill the dog with an eight-inch butcher knife after he found an e-mail from his wife to another man and found a photo of her with the man.

"It is sad to see that an individual would take out his anger over his relationship with his wife on an innocent animal," Mesa police Detective Tim Gaffney statted. "We are very lucky the wife came home when she did. If not, the animal would have bled to death."

The investigation began when Rodriguez's wife, Jeanne Espinoza, called Scottsdale police after she said she received a call at her Scottsdale workplace from her husband. Espinoza told police her husband threatened to kill her and harm himself. Scottsdale police asked Mesa police to go to the home to check on Rodriguez.

Mesa officers arrived at the home and discovered Rodriguez with superficial cuts on his arms. He was taken to a hospital for treatment but didn't mention the injured dog to police, Gaffney stated.

When Espinoza came home later, she found a broken glass vase in the kitchen and discovered her 5-year-old Queensland Healer dog, Khai, in the back yard, stabbed several times in the neck, police stated.

Mesa police returned to the home and found one end of an electrical cord tied to the dog's collar looped over a portable patio cover and the other end tied to a barbell with 45 pounds of weights attached. She collar was hanging six feet in the air, court records show.

Rodriguez allegedly told police he was upset because he thought he wife was having an affair and became agitated after talking to her. He threw the vase then went outside to hit a punching bag, he said. The dog started jumping on Rodriguez and then attacked him, so he went inside and grabbed a butcher knife to "hurt the dog," he told police.

Rodriguez said in court records that he didn't want the dog to suffer so he hung it for 20 to 30 minutes, Gaffney said. When Rodriguez thought the dog was dead, he lowered him and left him on the patio.

Gaffney said the dog was taken to an emergency animal hospital and was treated. He was released to his wife Espinoza June 7. Rodriguez remained in custody much of June 7. but was expected to be released.

Case Updates

References

• azcentral.com - June 7, 2005
• State v. Salvador Rodrigues, CR 2005-117402-001 DT

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