"In addition to the crimes for which he is accused in this case, he was accused and convicted of several similar incidents inflicting animal abuse and death as well as stalking and abuse against women in Columbus, Ohio, (and) Wauseon, Ohio," Wright wrote the judge in the case.
A Wauseon, Ohio, woman, who told prosecutors she lived with Swigart in the late 1990s, said he repeatedly abused her and once held her at knifepoint.
The woman told prosecutors Swigart came to her home after she ended their relationship, "placed her pet cat in a shoe box and sealed the box closed with tape. He then shot the box, with the cat inside, with a shotgun, killing the cat," according to the affidavit.
The woman said Swigart then forced her to look at her dead cat "and threatened that he would do the same to her," according to court records.
Another woman, who said she had a brief relationship with Swigart in Columbus, told prosecutors he "unlawfully entered her apartment and harmed her dogs" after their relationship ended. She said Swigart told her "he had hurt the dogs so badly that he had 'left them at death's door.'"
The woman said Swigart also boasted of killing a female roommate's cat, according to court documents.
A father was frantically calling 911 to report his missing newborn when he spotted the baby, bleeding from the mouth and clutched in the jaws of a family dog who had carried him from his crib to the heavily wooded backyard.
Four-day-old Alexander James Smith was rushed to the emergency room at University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington, where he was listed in critical condition Tuesday with two collapsed lungs, a skull fracture, broken ribs and various cuts and bruises.
Smith said he and his wife, Chrissie, had just put Alexander James (or A.J.) in his crib Monday afternoon in their Nicholasville, Ky., home. Smith said he was preparing to leave for the store to buy various baby items, including a video monitor that he now believes could have prevented the entire ordeal...
Smith, who is the owner of a corporate security business where his wife also works, said the dog was treating the baby as a puppy and wasn't being vicious. Still, he doesn't want her back in the family home.
Dakota was taken into custody by animal control, and although Smith remains hopeful a good home can be found for her, he acknowledges the animal may have to be destroyed.
A Kentucky Chihuahua is expected to make a full recovery after a freak accident that left a large barbecue fork lodged in his head for days, according to the animal hospital where he was treated.
During a family gathering two weeks ago, 12-week-old Smokey was waiting to be fed as his owner used the fork to shoo another dog away from Smokey's food, Su Smith, vice president of Cumberland Valley Animal Hospital in London, Kentucky, wrote in an article on the hospital's Web site.
As owner Vickie Brumley of Manchester, Kentucky, waved the fork, the handle broke off and the fork end was flung through the air, embedding itself several inches into Smokey's head.
Smokey immediately ran into the woods, Smith wrote. For two days, his owner's family searched for him despite bad weather and finally came to the conclusion that he had either died of his injury or been killed by wildlife.
Brumley's brother, Hughie Wagers, was visiting his sister and sitting on the porch when Smokey came up the driveway with the fork still sticking out of his head, Smith wrote. He rushed him to the animal hospital.
The body of John Keeth, a married man and the father of six children, who had been missing for some days from his home in Green county, Ky., was found last Saturday, wrapped in a blanket and concealed within the carcass of a horse. The body had been half eaten by dogs. Keeth’s death is wrapped in mystery.
A German shepherd named Astro who has been missing from his family for more than 9 years is finally home.
The Geary family was shocked when they recently received a call from an animal control officer who said that Astro had been found.
The Geary's adopted Astro, an 80-pound black and off-white German shepherd, about 9 years ago from the Treasure Coast Humane Society near Port St. Lucie, Fla. A month later, Astro went missing.
Since then, the family moved three times and ended up in Louisville, Ky.
On Jan. 29, 2009, an animal control officer in Tennessee picked up Astro after receiving a report about a dog running loose. Officers tracked down the family through a microchip implanted in the canine when he was adopted.
Dennis Geary says he wasn't sure if Astro would remember him. But when they were reunited, the dog sat down and began licking him.
"It's still a real shock that he is actually here," his wife Linda Geary told TCPalm.com about having the family's dog back. "We are getting used to the fact that we don't know where he has been or who had him, but he's our dog and has always been our dog."
It's now been three weeks since the pooch has been home. Even though Astro was gone for so long, Dennis says he's never forgotten him — all these years he kept Astro's picture in his wallet.
She is in town every day and has appointed herself the town tour guide, meeting visitors and making sure they see all the sights. She's running on the non-partisan canine ticket and supports feline and canine presence in the General Store. Lucy Lou promises to lend her support to all fund rainsing events and activities. She accredits her aspiration to Rabbit Hash's esteemed former mayor, Junior Cochran, stating that he was her hero.
"The name Rabbit Hash may derive from the historic use of the local rabbit population as food. The hamlet's most notable building, the Rabbit Hash General Store, is regarded as the best known and best preserved country store in Kentucky. Rabbit Hash is unincorporated and therefore without fixed boundaries, which makes its exact population a matter of opinion, but the population is generally regarded as between four and 40 depending on how the boundaries are drawn."
