October 20, 2006 9:57 p.m. EST
Josephine Roque - All Headline News Staff Writer
Tacoma, Washington (AHN) - A man has been charged with having sex with the family dog. He will be accused of a felony due to bestiality under the state's new animal cruelty law.
Michael Patrick McPhail, 26, pleaded not guilty to the count of first-degree animal cruelty in Pierce County Superior Court.
Assistant Pierce County Prosecutor Karen Watson said McPhail was the first case of the new bestiality offense in Pierce County.
She said McPhail's dog is now under animal control.
McPhail's wife told police that she caught her husband on their back porch having intercourse with their 4-year-old female pit bull terrier.
The dog had been was squealing and crying. The wife then took pictures of the act with her cell phone and informed the sheriff's office.
McPhail is out on a $20,000 bail.