Man Stabs Dog In Face After It Bites His Son At South Jersey Home

MULLICA HILL, NJ — A man in his 40s admitted that he stabbed a dog in the face after it bit his kid, court filings showed. The dog was later put down.

Anthony M. Botte, of Mullica Hill, accepted a plea deal on charges of possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose and cruelty to animals.

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On Dec. 10, 2023, at around 6:20 a.m., officers responded to 820 Lincoln Rd. for a report of an attack involving a dog.

The caller told police that his son had friends over the night before.

At around 2 a.m. when everyone was outside, the man let his dog, a three-year-old Belgian Malinois named Nash, outside.

The dog bit Botte's son on his right bicep without being provoked, according to court records.

The caller said a situation like this had never occurred before with his dog and that he proceeded to bring Nash inside and back into his cage.

He then called the parents of the child, Anthony and Jessica Botte, to tell them what happened.

Anthony arrived 15 minutes later with a knife in his hand and rushed by the kids outside.

In trying to kill the dog, authorities said, he first ran into someone else in the house, raised his fixed-blade knife, and said "I will f******* stab you."

After pushing the person into the counter, Botte ran at the dog and stabbed him in the face multiple times through his cage.

Due to Botte kicking the cage, the dog got out and proceeded to bite someone in the room on the leg.

After being separated, Botte took his son to Inspira Medical Hill Hospital to get checked.

Nash was taken to the veterinary for evaluation and later put down due to the events that unfolded.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of three years in jail for the possession of a weapon charge and 18 months for animal cruelty to run concurrently.

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