Animal Cruelty Charges Pending For Man Who Stabbed Dog

Ormond Beach, FL – A man is at SMA Behavioral Healthcare in Daytona Beach for a mental health evaluation after a stand-off with Ormond Beach Police (OBPD) on Thursday. The man was threatening suicide in the parking lot of the Hampton Inn. When he was taken into custody, he told officers he had stabbed his dog, Midnight, at his home on Monroe Street in the DeLand area. Volusia Sheriff’s deputies and Volusia County Animal Services (VCAS) officers took her in for treatment and she is on the road to recovery. OBPD responded to a crisis intervention hotline alerting them to text messages from a suicidal person at the motel Thursday afternoon. They found the suspect in a vehicle holding a kitchen knife. He was taken into custody without incident. As for Midnight, she was found at the home with an apparent knife wound to her right side. Emergency evaluation and treatment found she had an injury to her lung, but her condition was stable. When checked for a microchip, VCAS found that the man who stabbed her was not her registered owner. The owners were contacted. They said they’d recently allowed the suspect to take her home with him. They were shocked by the attack and expressed a desire to foster Midnight after she’s well enough to leave veterinary care.