An Indiana man is accused of beating his neighbor's dog with a log, shattering the animal's right eye socket.
Ronald Johnson, 55, of Valparaiso, was arrested Friday and charged with torturing or mutilating an animal, and cruelty to an animal, according to the Times of Northwest Indiana.
Johnson was booked into the Porter County Jail and has been released after posting $1,500 bail, the newspaper reported.
"I don't think he should have been able to bond out that easily," Courtney Gutowski, the dog's owner, said Monday in a statement to the Times.
Johnson is accused of hitting Echo, Gutowski's 9-pound beagle/dachshund mix, with a log Aug. 28, police said. The impact shattered the dog's right eye socket, and the dog required emergency surgery, the Times reported. The dog's eye was surgically removed.
Police did not give a motive for the alleged attack.
The dog's eye had to be examined by a specialist in West Lafayette, the newspaper reported.
While Echo seems to be responding well to treatment, Gutowski said the dog remains skittish.
"He is still very afraid when we take him out anywhere," Gutowski told the Times. "But he is finally running around in our backyard again under close supervision."
Johnson's initial hearing is scheduled for Sept. 25 at the Porter County Courthouse, the newspaper reported.
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