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Woman High On Cough Syrup Stabs Her Dog With A Kitchen Knife

cough_syrup.jpg
Cough syrup bottle (Photo by anaken2012 via Shutterstock)

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A Glendale woman was arrested on animal cruelty charges after stabbing her Shiba Inu dog in the face with a kitchen knife.Authorities say Merry Jane Clift, 42, was under the influence of cough syrup when she stabbed her dog Huckleberry several times around its eyes on December 28, according to the Glendale News-Press.

Clift was arrested at her apartment just after 2 a.m. after her neighbors reported to police that she was banging on the door and begging residents to kill her. Police found a trail of blood leading to Clift's apartment and followed it to Huckleberry. Clift was sitting in the hallway, and there they found a bloody kitchen knife with a 10-inch blade.

Clift told police she was going through a difficult time because of "child custody" issues but she later claimed that she forgot everything because she had a psychotic episode. Clift has child abuse and endangerment charges filed against her in a separate case from January 2012. She is also facing public intoxication charges from December 2011 and January 2012.

The dog survived the attack and is healing while under quarantine at the Pasadena Humane Society. Although his wounds are improving, he seems to be depressed due to the trauma of the stabbing. Animal control workers are looking for a behaviorist to work with the poor dog but promised that they will find him a new home.

"The dog will not be returned to this woman," the humane's society's spokeswoman Ricky Whitman told the News-Press.

Clift is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 10.

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