Kevin Hutcheon jailed after attacking dog with knife in Angus
A man has been jailed for repeatedly stabbing a dog in an Angus street.
Kevin Hutcheon, 27, left the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, named Rocco, "lifeless" after claiming it had bitten his foot.
When police arrived at the scene in Montrose, they found the dog with multiple injuries and covered in blood. Despite its wounds, the animal survived the attack.
Hutcheon was jailed for 21 months at Forfar Sheriff Court.
Sergeant James Robertson told the court that he and a colleague found the badly injured dog lying in Victoria Street on 9 August.
He said: "When I arrived the dog was heavily covered in blood - it was soaked in blood and lifeless."
PC Rhiannon McDonald, who also attended the incident, said Hutcheon, who did not own the dog, had said the animal attacked him.
She said: "[Hutcheon] had two small puncture wounds on his foot - he said he had been bitten on the foot and that he had stabbed the dog twice because he had been bitten.
"I had seen the dog a few times before in the street - he was always very happy and friendly and let you pat him."
A search of Hutcheon's home later found a blood-soaked knife sitting on a baby's high chair.
Hutcheon, giving evidence in his own defence, said he "loved animals" - but had been left with no choice but to stab the dog.
He said: "He was trying to take a snap at either my face or my neck. I gave it a kick and the dog went for my foot.
"I love animals. He attacked me and wouldn't let me go."
Earlier, a vet told the trial that the dog would have died within an hour if it had not received treatment for a series of wounds, which included a cut to its jugular vein.
A jury convicted Hutcheon of causing a protected animal unnecessary suffering by repeatedly stabbing it with a knife, contrary to the Animal Health and Welfare Act, and being in possession of a knife in Victoria Street following the attack.
He was acquitted of charges of threatening two men and a woman at the property, headbutting the woman and being in possession of a knife.
Sheriff Kevin Veal jailed Hutcheon for 12 months on the animal welfare charge and 21 months on the knife charge.
He said: "These sentences will be served concurrently, you will go to prison for 21 months in total.
"This was a very serious offence."