Australian man stabs dog to death

MELBOURNE - Police in Melbourne are searching for a “disturbed” man who stabbed a small dog to death inside its kennel before jumping over a fence when the dog’s owner saw him.

Coco, a male Maltese shih-tzu, was stabbed numerous times during the assault, which occured around 5.25 p.m. Monday in Derrick Street, The Age reported.

The five-and-a-half years old dog underwent surgery but died from multiple stab wounds.

Coco’s owner came out of her house after hearing yelping noises in the backyard. The woman was horrified to find a man trying to kill her beloved pet. Realising he had been spotted, the attacker jumped over a brick wall and ran away, police constable Steve Millar said.

Millar described the attack as “unprovoked” and “tragic” and that the offender was “obviously quite disturbed”.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. The individual who has done it is obviously quite disturbed … Anyone who is this disturbed to be able to go into someone else’s backyard and stab a dog while it’s in its own kennel is someone we are obviously concerned about and we’re looking to catch quite quickly.”