FLOYD COUNTY, Ky. -- A Floyd County man is facing animal cruelty charges after police say he killed and skinned four of his neighbors' dogs to make a "doggy coat."
Kentucky State Police arrested 38-year-old Jonathan D. Watkins on Dec. 23 after being alerted by neighbors.
According to his arrest citation, police were called to the 800 block of Open Fork Road in David, Kentucky, by a neighbor of Watkins.
The neighbor told police that Watkins came to his home about 1:20 p.m. asking for a cigarette. The neighbor said Watkins was covered in blood.
When the neighbor asked why, Watkins reportedly told him: "I've been skinning dogs."
The neighbor told police he initially didn't believe Watkins but later in the day while walking past Watkins' residence he saw what looked like four animal skins and two dog carcasses on his porch.
The neighbor reported to police that he was missing two dogs and believed a fellow neighbor also was missing two dogs.
A trooper contacted Watkins at his home, where he said he observed the man had blood on his clothing as well as an 8-to-10-inch hunting knife, also covered in blood.
"I'm making myself a Doggy Coat," Watkins told the trooper, according to the arrest citation. Watkins allegedly acknowledged killing his neighbors' dogs, saying "Yes, there isn't anything wrong with me making myself a fur coat."
The citation says Watkins told the trooper, "I stabbed them in the heart with my knife," skinned them and abandoned the carcasses over an adjacent hill.
Watkins was charged with torture of a dog with serial physical injury or death and tampering with physical evidence.
He was being held in the Floyd County Jail.
This story was originally published by David Nichols at WLEX.
