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Fla. Man Accused of Beating Girlfriend with Her Dog

By Deanne Katz, Esq. on September 19, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Anything can be used as a weapon so when nothing else was handy, Michael Wayne Jones beat his girlfriend with her own dog.

Dogs can be dangerous if they bite. But Jones allegedly used his girlfriend's small dog as a club and hit her multiple times during a fight. The police report also claims that he choked her before biking away from the scene carrying the dog.

He was caught a short time later with the dog and a cut on his right hand. He claims that he left for his safety but other witnesses don't support that statement.

On the official police report it's noted that the fight started because either Jones's girlfriend of her daughter tried to smoke crack cocaine.

He got angry about that and that apparently led to violence. From the girlfriend's statement and other witnesses, police have presumed that Jones was the aggressor.

Domestic violence is never a joke although the fact that Jones beat his girlfriend with her own dog would be laughable if no one had gotten hurt. It's also a strange way to react to your girlfriend's destructive behavior.

If he was trying to stop her doing crack there are lots of better ways to do it that wouldn't have resulted in injury.

For his 'efforts' Jones was charged with domestic violence battery by strangulation, criminal mischief, and animal endangerment.

'Battery by dog' probably isn't a formal crime in Florida, where Jones and his (probably now ex) girlfriend live, which accounts for the charge of criminal mischief. A charge of criminal mischief, sometimes called vandalism in property damage cases, is used to punish actions that are dangerous and cause harm to others but don't fall within a specific statute.

That allows law enforcement to stop people who otherwise wouldn't have a specific charge against them.

Despite the beating, both the dog and girlfriend only suffered minor injuries, reports the New York Daily News. Jones, meanwhile, is being held on $2700 bond.

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