Sanilac County man charged with strangling 4 dogs

A 34-year-old man will be arraigned in Sanilac County Circuit Court next week on four counts of animal torturing and killing.

Sanilac County Undersheriff Bradley Roff said Joshua Scoon is accused of strangling four pit bulls on or about June 20.

Roff said Scoon turned himself into the sheriff department July 3 on a probation violation.

A sergeant at the sheriff department had knowledge from dispatch that Scoon may have been connected to a previous complaint about a man injuring dogs at a residence on Ubly Road in Moore Township.

Scoon allegedly confessed to the sergeant that he had strangled four pit bulls to death.

Scoon had 14 pit bulls. Roff said Scoon decided he needed to reduce the number of dogs he had. Roff said he didn’t want to have them euthanized out of fear that he wouldn’t be able bring them home for burial on his Moore Township property.

He was arraigned in district court on July 10 on four felony counts of animal torturing and killing, according to court records. He waived his preliminary examination July 21.

His arraignment in circuit court is scheduled for Monday.

His bond was set at $10,000 cash or surety.

Contact Beth LeBlanc at (810) 989-6259 or eleblanc@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @THBethLeBlanc.