Baltimore Cop Who Slit Dog’s Throat To Get $45,000 In Back Pay

A former Baltimore police officer who slit a dog’s throat and was later acquitted of animal cruelty charges will get $45,000 from the city government for payments he missed while on unpaid leave.

Jeffrey Bolger, 50, lost out on about 10 months of paychecks while he was accused of killing a 7-year-old Shar-Pei in June 2014, the Baltimore Sun reports. He was acquitted in November after prosecutors failed to prove he was criminally responsible for the death and is entitled to receive back wages from his suspension under a police union contract, according to the newspaper.

The dog had escaped from its home and had bitten a woman on the hand when its owner called cops to help capture it, the Sun reports. Witnesses said Bolger slit the dog’s throat as it was tied to a dog-control pole.

“Agent Bolger could not be certain whether the dog had died or was dying and unconscious after it was removed from the dog pole,” his attorney’s wrote, according to the Sun. “Consequently, in the event that it was still alive, Agent Bolger wanted to end its suffering.”

[Baltimore Sun]