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Man accused of torturing family dog, posting photos on Instagram skips court hearing

Posted at 1:05 PM, Dec 04, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-04 13:05:50-05

RENTON, Wash. -- A $100,000 bench warrant has been issued after a man accused of stabbing his dog more than a dozen times last year did not show up for his court date.

In November of 2017, King County prosecutors charged 37-year-old Christopher McCabe with two counts of Animal Cruelty in the First Degree.

Earlier this year, McCabe was released on $75,000 bail. Prosecutors added a deadly weapon enhancement - which adds 6 months to a potential sentence - and an aggravator for lack of remorse, which can be used as a basis for an exceptional sentence. The case was also designated as a Domestic Violence case.

A gruesome crime

According to court documents, deputies responded to his home on October 20th after his estranged wife reported seeing Instagram photos showing the 5-year-old black lab mix in a bathtub covered in blood.  When deputies arrived, they say McCabe took off out the back door of the home and was arrested a short time later by a Renton Police officer.

Deputies found Lola in the bathtub and said she appeared to have been stabbed multiple times in her torso, face, and legs with a pitchfork and a long knife attached to a flagpole.

Lola recovering after surgery for stab wounds

A King County Animal Control Officer arrived and rushed Lola to the Blue Pearl Veterinary Hospital in Renton.

Deputies also found a rabbit burned in a fire pit in the backyard.  When questioned, detectives say McCabe told them that ‘God had given him insight and that dogs contained evil spirits and referenced a scripture in the Bible, Matthew 8:31, which is when Jesus casted demons out of man and into a herd of pigs’.

Court documents indicate McCabe showed no remorse and believed he had done what God wanted him to do.

Since the attack last year, Lola has recovered from her injuries and has been placed in a new home.