Dog severely beaten, stabbed with golf club

Forty year old John McCafferty of Covington, WA faces charges of first-degree animal cruelty for allegedly beating and stabbing his own dog with a golf club during a drunken tirade on January 22, 2006. McCafferty remains in jail with his bail set at $25,000.

John Forrest McCafferty, 40, appeared for a judge wearing the scarlet uniform of a King County jail inmate. He was arraigned on first-degree animal cruelty, a charge that could land the man behind bars for a year if he's found guilty.

"It sounds like there has been a rush to judgment because of the nature of the charge," said public defender Pat Valerio, who represented McCafferty at the arraignment.

Prosecutors say McCafferty was drunk the morning of Jan. 22, when he beat the family's black Labrador retriever named Oully with a putter until it snapped in half.

McCafferty then used the sharp end of the broken golf club to stab the dog. Oully was treated for lacerations and puncture wounds with veterinary bills totaling about $400, according to court documents.

During the attack at the McCafferty residence in the Timberlane neighborhood in Covington, McCafferty's 21-year-old daughter threw herself on the dog to protect it from her father, prosecutors said.

McCafferty's wife, Angie, said she plans to file for divorce. No one from McCafferty's family was present in court for his arraignment.

Asking for maximum jail sentence and restitution and mandatory psychological testing and counseling.