DECATUR — A Decatur man convicted of aggravated cruelty to animals by inflicting a bloody beating on a pet dog is back in jail after being accused of violating his sentence of probation.
Dalton Skinner, 25, was arrested Aug. 19 after prosecutors say he broke several rules of the 24-month probation sentence imposed by Macon County Circuit Court Judge Rodney Forbes on July 28, 2021.
“We have two probation violations, the first one being that he had a domestic animal,” said Macon County State’s Attorney Scott Rueter.
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“Apparently, someone saw him with a pet which he shouldn’t have had during his period of probation. And he also failed to do the things he was supposed to do on probation like show up for appointments.”
Court records show the first complaint about probation violation was filed in December of 2021 and when Skinner failed to answer a summons to court, an arrest warrant was issued in January of 2022. A second petition charging violation of probation was filed in May of 2022.
The original animal cruelty case against Skinner dates to March of 2019 when Decatur police said they received a tip to visit Skinner’s home because he was “killing a brindle-colored pit bull inside the residence.”
A sworn affidavit signed by Officer Anna Oldham described Skinner answering the door with shaking, blood-spattered hands. He then took the officer through the house to where she found his pet dog lying in a bathtub with a bleeding wound to the neck and what the officer described as a “hole” on the top of its head.
She quoted Skinner as telling her he had “smacked the dog in the head” and hit the pet while holding “screws and metals” in his hand which, he said, may have inflicted the wounds. The officer noted the dog also had a bleeding nose injury and a swollen-shut right eye.
Skinner gave no reason for injuring the dog and, when the cops arrived, he had apparently been trying to administer some primitive first aid. Oldham said he had tied a rope around the dog’s head to hold a blood-soaked pad of paper towels in place in a bid to stanch the bleeding.
Skinner was immediately arrested and the dog had been taken for professional medical care. The Macon County Animal Control Center later said it had responded to treatment and described the female dog as “doing very well.” She was adopted out and now lives with a new family.
The defendant is due to appear in court Thursday with his defense lawyer. A check of jail records Tuesday afternoon showed that Skinner remained in custody with bail set at $10,000, requiring him to post a bond of $1,000 to be released.
2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review
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Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid