A Newtown Township man is facing felony animal cruelty charges after authorities allege he stabbed to death his family’s two dogs.
George Gooch Ash, 38, was charged Wednesday with two aggravated cruelty to animal charges and two misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. The felony cruelty charges each carry a potential maximum of seven in prison.
His arrest was announced Wednesday morning at a press conference at the Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown.
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Newtown Township police, who filed charged jointly the Bucks County SPCA, responded to the Ash home on Essex Place Jan. 18 after Ash called 911, telling dispatchers he stabbed his dogs.
Ash told authorities he stabbed the animals to death because he was angry with his mother after a visit with her in a nursing home and that he took it out on the dogs, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said that Ash was angry because he felt his mother was belittling him, and took his anger out on his dogs for hours. He has not been arraigned on the charges yet, but he is in a secure location, she said. She declined to say where he is.
Ash began abusing the dogs, kicking and hitting them, earlier in the day, according to court documents. Police said they found one blade of a knife still lodged in one of the dogs. Ash told police when it broke off he got another knife and continued stabbing the animals until they were dead, according to the affidavit.
After beating and kicking them, he stabbed one with a paring knife that broke off in the dog’s torso, Schorn said. He stabbed one of the dogs with an 8-inch chef knife and also appeared to have stabbed himself.
Schorn described Ash’s wounds as superficial.
Ash lived alone at the home and no one else was injured. He was taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown for treatment before his arrest.
Check back later for more details from the 11 a.m. press conference
Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
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