Deputies: Georgia man stabbed, unleashed dogs on pig

SPRINGFIELD, Ga. — A Georgia man unleashed his two pit bulls on a neighbor’s pet pig that got loose in a mobile home park, then stabbed the animal 15 to 20 times in front of children and other onlookers, authorities said.

The pig survived and was in critical condition at a veterinarian’s office Friday, said Effingham County Sheriff’s Office spokesman David Ehsanipoor.

The owner of the dogs, 23-year-old Benjamin Fullwood, was charged Wednesday with felony cruelty to animals, criminal trespass and obstruction of a law enforcement officer, Ehsanipoor said. The man’s bond was set at $25,000, and a judge ordered him to have no contact with domestic animals, Ehsanipoor said. It was unclear Friday if Fullwood had an attorney.

The pig got out of its owners’ yard Wednesday afternoon and wandered into a mobile home park in Springfield, Ehsanipoor said. Residents of the park were trying to get in touch with the animal’s owner, when Fullwood unleashed his two pit bulls on the pig and then began stabbing the pig in front of a group of people, including children, Ehsanipoor said.

“This was an unprovoked attack. The pig was posing no threat to anybody,” Ehsanipoor said. “It was just brutal.”

Fullwood initially lied to deputies, saying he was punching the pig, Ehsanipoor said. But witness accounts, as well as the nature of the pig’s wounds, led deputies to determine the pig had been stabbed, he said.

Fullwood was also arrested in 2011 on animal cruelty charges for allegedly leaving cats and dogs in unsanitary cages for days without food or water, Ehsanipoor said.