A 37-year-old Burnsville man told police that he killed his girlfriend’s dog after it tried to bite him — first by using a knife and then hours later a bow and arrow because he thought that would be a “humane way to end him,” charges say.
Police were sent to a Burnsville home Saturday after someone reported that Grady Scarborough Courtney sent his girlfriend a text that he had killed her dog, a German shepherd mix named Axel. He also sent his girlfriend, who was out of town, pictures of the dog.
When officers made contact with Courtney at the home and told him they were there about Axel, he said the dog “probably had rabies” and he killed him “with a lot of things,” the charges filed this week say.
In a bedroom, officers saw blood “everywhere” and Axel’s body under a pile of towels. He had stab wounds to his side and back and a hole above his eye.
A bent baton and a knife were on a bed, and a broken arrow and dog feces were on the floor.
Courtney told police he brought a steak knife and bread knife with him to feed the dog because it had been aggressive toward him and acting rabid. He said Axel tried to bite him so he stabbed him, the charges say.
Axel did not die, Courtney said, so he checked on him every 20 minutes. The dog was still aggressive, he said, so he stabbed him 10 more times and that he cowered but did not die.
After two hours, Courtney got a baton and bow and arrow. Axel was hiding in a spot where he had never seen him before with blood and feces “all over the place,” Courtney told police, according to the charges.
Axel came at him again, Courtney said, so he hit him with the baton “so hard that the baton is bent.” He said he shot Axel in the head four times with the bow and arrow.
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Courtney appeared to be under the influence and provided a preliminary breath test, which showed his blood-alcohol concentration was 0.178, according to the charges. The legal standard for motorists in Minnesota is 0.08.
Courtney’s girlfriend gave police a statement, telling officers she’d been away for three weeks and that Courtney had been acting aggressively and erratically toward people in that time.
She said Axel had never shown aggression toward Courtney and that another person had watched the dog within the last week without any issues.
She gave police screenshots of texts that Courtney had sent her, which included pictures of the weapons, blood all over the room and Axel’s body, the charges say. One text said, “Axel is dead…12+full depth stab wounds, severe broken bones, TEN (expletive) POINT BLANK ARROW HITS…*4 directly into the skull and brain*…and he was still growling and biting at the door for HOURS!!!”
Courtney was charged Monday with two counts of felony mistreatment of animals. He made a first appearance on charges Tuesday and was released ahead of a next hearing scheduled for Feb. 6. His attorney did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request seeking comment on the charges.
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