Chisholm man, Sethe Morey, charged with animal cruelty

MINNESOTA -- A Chisholm man is now facing an additional charge of animal cruelty for allegedly stabbing his ex-girlfriend’s dog to death.
 
Sethe H.J. Morey, 31, of Chisholm, was formally charged with one felony count of torture or cruelty to pet or companion animal resulting in death or great bodily harm after being arrested last week. He made his second appearance before Judge Mark M. Starr in St. Louis County District Court in Hibbing Thursday, during which he was charged a second time with the same charge.

Morey remains in custody and bail has been set at $25,000.

Chisholm police arrested Morey around 4:45 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, after responding to 212 NW Second Ave. in Chisholm.

When officers arrived, they observed a trail of blood inside the residence and then saw Morey coming down the steps with a large amount of blood on his hands and pants, according to the court complaint. He was upset and crying, stating “he wanted to bury his dog.”

Morey told officers that the dog had attacked him and bit him on the hand. However, the only mark on him was an approximate 8-inch cut on the thumb on his left hand.

When asked by officers if he had been drinking, Morey acknowledged he had been but refused to submit to a Personal Breath Test (PBT). When asked if he was under the influence of any drugs or methamphetamine, he would not answer.

A witness at that location pointed officers to a knife on the kitchen counter, and led officers into a back bedroom on the first floor where they found a large, brown pit bull type dog lying dead, according to the complaint.

Witnesses said that Morey had stabbed the dog in the kitchen, then it ran upstairs and back downstairs, thus creating the blood trail.

Morey told officers the dog was “mean,” that it would not listen, that it did not belong around kids and that it was growling at him and in attack mode. He added that he had been bitten twice that day.

Although he called his actions unintentional, Morey described for officers how he stabbed the dog on the underside of the throat, as he would a human. He admitted to stabbing it once before it took off up the stairs.

Once upstairs, Morey said he stabbed the dog once again in self-defense.

According to the complaint, witnesses in the home told officers that they had not seen the dog bite Morey and that the dog was not a danger or threat to anyone. They also described how they suspected he was drunk and under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the incident.

Morey has a history of committing gross misdemeanors, including convictions for domestic assault and damage to property.

He has been assigned a public defender and is scheduled to appear in court again on March 19.

(Hibbing Daily Tribune - March 6, 2015)