Leonard Yankton kills pit bull w/machete

[Jaded]

LINCOLN, Neb. -- A Lincoln man faces a charge of felony animal cruelty after he allegedly tried to cut off a pit bull's head with a machete.

Police said the incident started with an argument over a scratch on the floor and escalated on Monday night.

Leonard Yankton, 32, called police and told them the dog had tried to attack him, so he used the machete to fight back.

"It appeared Leonard Yankton tried to chop the dog's head off," said Lincoln Officer Katie Flood.

The pit bull was taken to an animal clinic, where it died. Yankton was arrested and charged with felony animal abuse.

"Apparently, where the injuries were on the dog, it could not have been in attack mode. It appeared the dog had been laying down," Flood said.

"The dog was agitated," Yankton told KETV NewsWatch 7 "My girlfriend and her owner had just gotten into a fight. She just left the dog there. I think she did it on purpose so it would attack me. They are trying to make me out as a monster -- a dog killer. I was just trying to protect myself. If I had a gun, I would have shot it. I had a machete."

Phyllis Stone said she has known Yankton for years. She said she believes the only time he would hurt an animal was to defend himself.

"If a machete was the only thing to defend himself, that's what he would do," Stone said.

"When the officer was there before at 6:30, Leonard was petting the dog," Flood said.

The maximum sentence for felony animal cruelty is five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

http://www.ketv.com/news/16699742/de...s=oma&psp=news

[Dakota Valkyrie]

That poor dog.

Has anyone else noticed the trend the last few days? Dead pitt, rottie, skunk, boxer... plus a plethora of dead animals at in the Drown family case.

Bad time to be an animal.

[Jaded]

I think it goes with phases of the moon....
One week it's babies, then dogs, then wives, then back to babies again.

[Countess Olenska]

To many people see animals as possessions instead of what they are. The "I own it I can do what I want with it" attitude is what has kept me from becoming a vet.

Let's smack this dude in the neck with a machete and see how he fairs.

[Sarabei]

Until society as a whole steps up to the plate and adequately punished scum like this, sadly, it will continue to happen....hopefully justice actually happen and this scum will get the maximum sentence possible!!

[michelle]

I agree that animal abuse and cruelty is awful. I am still more concerned with human abuse. If we can't stop mistreating each other how the hell we gonna stop mistreating animals?

[maryhaze]

To many people see animals as possessions instead of what they are. The "I own it I can do what I want with it" attitude is what has kept me from becoming a vet.

Let's smack this dude in the neck with a machete and see how he fairs.

mamma, you'd love my vet. he does whatever it takes to get animals away from abusive owners & never puts down anything just on the owners word. unfortunately, i end up with all the nuts he won't put down, but i love his ethics when it comes to critters.