A 42-old-man has been arrested on animal cruelty charges
after apparently killing his family's pet poodle by breaking its neck before
burning it in a smoker.
Patrick Zane Thompson of Goodyear, Arizona, had been
behaving erratically in the hours before the incident on Saturday, burning his
17-year-old daughter's t-shirt in the family's garden after saying he believed
the clothing had something to do with the devil.
Thompson later told arresting officers he’d smoked
marijuana earlier in the day and proceeded to have what he described as an
"episode."
After the shirt incident, reports says he told his four
children he needed to "make a sacrifice of a male." His family
attempted to flee, at which point Thompson grabbed the dog and broke its neck
with his hands, before putting it into the same smoker in which he'd burnt the
t-shirt.
When police arrived they found Thompson lying on the
pavement outside his house with a self-inflicted cut on his arm.
He was charged with two felonies and four misdemeanors,
including animal cruelty, assault, threats against his family and tampering
with evidence. He's now being held at a Maricopa County Jail on $20,000 bail,
and is due to appearin court on May 23.
In a post on the Facebook page for the family's mobile
catering business, Raging Cajun Smoking Barbecue, Thompson's daughter wrote:
"My dad had a mental breakdown from the stress of the business and other
problems as a way of relieving stress he turned to drugs - it wasn’t the most
responsible decision but this could of happen to anyone of us.
"Just pray for us ... Raging Cajun will be closed
... until this tension settle(s) down and until my dad (is) feeling better and
on his feet. Just pray please and thank you."
At this time we ask you to please keep the negative comments to yourself in light of his family who are seeing...fb.me/5mp0Wvg78
