A man from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is facing numerous animal cruelty charges after allegedly beating and stabbing his family’s dogs to death.
George Gooch Ash, 40, of Essex Place, Newtown Township, has been charged with two felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals.
Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn, the Newtown Township Police Department, and the Bucks County SPCA held a news conference Wednesday, Jan. 29, to announce the charges against Ash.
“To say the defendant’s actions were inhumane is an understatement,” Schorn said during the news conference. “They were sadistic.”
Officials said the investigation began Saturday, Jan. 18, after officers with the Newtown Township Police Department were dispatched at 5:29 p.m. to 25 Essex Place. The 911 caller identified himself as Ash.
Ash had told dispatchers that he became angry after visiting his mother at a nursing home earlier in the day and took it out on the dogs, stabbing them both to death with kitchen knives, according to officials. He then told dispatchers he also stabbed himself a few times.
When officers arrived on the scene, officials said Ash had exited the home wearing blood-stained clothing. He was taken to the hospital for medical treatment. No one else was inside the home at the time.
Through the investigation, officials said police learned that Ash began abusing the dogs by kicking and hitting them. He then stabbed one with a knife, and the blade broke off inside the dog. He then grabbed a second knife and stabbed both dogs until they were dead.
“The scene in this case was gruesome, in that there were pools of blood both on the dog’s bed, on the couch, and blood throughout the first floor of the residence,” Schorn shared.
Near the kitchen, police located the two dogs lying next to each other. Both dogs had slashing and puncture-type injuries to their torso, according to officials.
Officials said police were also able to locate both knives used in the incident inside the home; one knife was described as a chef-style knife with an 8-inch blade.
The dogs were identified as a 7-year-old male Beagle-Lab mix named Blake and a 9-year-old female Beagle-Collie mix named Shyla.
“Since our founding in 1912, the Bucks County SPCA has worked tirelessly to obtain justice for animals who have suffered acts of cruelty by people who were supposed to care for those animals,” Linda Reider, Executive Director of the Bucks County SPCA, said during the news conference. “Our mission will always be to end animal suffering in Bucks County. To that end, we are working with Newtown Township Police and the Bucks County District Attorney to gain justice for Shyla and Blake, two beagles who were tragically and horrifically killed by someone they knew well.”
“We will dedicate our resources to this investigation to ensure that George Ash is convicted fairly and justly,” Reider added.
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