Police: Casper Man Killed Guinea Pig, Attacked Dog With Knife

A Casper man allegedly killed a guinea pig and slit the throat of a dog on Thursday.

Christopher Reed, 22, heard the the two felony charges of aggravated cruelty to animals during his initial appearance in Natrona County Circuit Court on Monday.

He will have a preliminary hearing within a few weeks to determine whether he will be bound over to district court for trial.

Aggravated cruelty to animals is punishable by up to two years of imprisonment and up to a $5,000 fine.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Casper police responded about 9 p.m. of a report of a disturbance at an apartment in the 600 block of CY Avenue, where a woman said her roommate became upset and began smashing things.

The officer left after determining no one was in danger.

However, an officer returned to the apartment about an hour later after dispatch said the person reporting the incident said he heard screaming, banging and a male heard screaming he was going to slit someone's throat.

Another officer arrived, spoke with a man who said the two individuals involved in the fight had left.

One officer found broken furniture and pictures, holes in the drywall, and scattered clothing and garbage.

They also saw a large amount of blood spatter on one wall and pooling blood on the floor. A red dog collar was found in the blood and a dead guinea pig was found in a cage.

A further search of the area around the building found a medium sized border collie wrapped in a white garbage bag and discarded in a Dumpster. The dog had a large amount of blood coming from the dog's throat and mouth.

"When the dog saw [the officer], it began wagging its tail, and despite being horribly injured, was not acting aggressive," according to the affidavit.

The officer contacted Metro Animal Services, officers removed the dog from the Dumpster and saw it had a severe cut to its throat which exposed the dog's trachea "which appeared to have been completely severed."

The Metro officer took the dog to the Altitude Animal Hospital for emergency treatment.

This story will be updated.