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Man charged after allegedly killing his dog

LISBON — A Madison Township man reportedly shot and killed his dog with a .20-gauge shotgun on Wednesday, and also threatened his mother and her fiance.

Robert Cunningham, 38, of East Liverpool Road, Lisbon, was charged with cruelty to animals, having weapons while intoxicated and domestic violence after deputies were called to the East Liverpool Road property just before 11 p.m. Wednesday, according to the county sheriff’s report on file with the county municipal court.

A pretrial has been set for Feb. 22 on the charges.

According to the sheriff’s report, deputies were called to the property by Cunningham’s mother, Wanda Blaner, who said that she and her fiance were woken up by a call from her son, who said that he had shot his dog.

Blaner told the deputies that she did not hear a gunshot, however, and that her son had left the property in a blue Chevy Cavalier but later returned and summoned her and her fiance to the apartment where they saw blood everywhere.

She also said that her son had been on a drinking binge and that she was concerned for her and her fiance’s safety, as he had threatened them both, specifically threatening to shoot her fiance in the head.

Deputies went to the rear of the property where Cunningham’s apartment was located and found blood on the floors and walls, with a trail of blood leading out of the rear bedroom into the bathroom and then outside, the report said.

“There was so much blood that the inside of the residence appeared to be a homicide scene,” the report stated.

Deputies also smelled alcohol and saw several alcohol bottles inside while searching the apartment to see if anyone was inside.

Deputy Brett Grabman found the dog outside by another garage, dead with an apparent gun shot wound to the face. A .20-gauge shotgun and one spent shell casing were found outside near the door as well, the report stated.

Blaner also told deputies that when her son had called her he said that his dog Blue had bitten him and he thought it may have rabies and that he and a friend were coming back to “put the dog out of his misery.”

Cunningham had left the property again before deputies arrived.

He was found by deputies and the highway patrol driving the Cavalier near West Point.

While placing him in handcuffs to pat him down for weapons, deputies reported he smelled of alcohol, was slurring his words and was highly intoxicated. There was also an open beer can inside the vehicle, according to the report.

A patrol trooper took Cunningham into custody for OVI and Cunningham reportedly became verbally aggressive toward one of the deputies.

Deputies also stated in the report that blood could be seen on Cunningham’s right hand and that he stated during the arrest that he did not kill his dog, which they reported was “an interesting comment due to the fact that none of the law enforcement officer present mentioned anything about any dog.”

He was placed in custody and taken to the county jail.

kwhite@mojonews.com

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