Man beats his 2 year old pit bull, attacks her with darts and wires her mouth shut

A Central Islip man was charged with animal cruelty after he repeatedly tortured his 2-year-old pit bull, Emma, throwing metal game darts at her, beating her with metal pipes and tying her mouth shut with speaker wire, Suffolk police said.

John Bayliss, 39, of 6 Bayonne Ave., also was charged with third-degree menacing in an unrelated domestic dispute.

According to police and state records, Bayliss has a criminal history that includes convictions for second-degree assault - he served 4 years in prison after assaulting his 18-month-old son in 1997 - weapons possession and criminal trespass.

The boy lives with his mother, police said.  



Officers who investigated a domestic disturbance call Tuesday afternoon said the house Bayliss shares with his girlfriend had been converted into apartments, with unsafe wiring and partitions, Suffolk County police Lt. James Gruenfelder said.

That is also when police learned of the allegations that Bayliss regularly beat one of his two pit bulls, Gruenfelder said.

Police took several items they said Bayliss used to torment Emma over the past year: speaker wire, metal game darts, a foot-long metal flashlight, and two metal pipes about an inch in diameter - one 2 feet long, the other 3 feet long.

"It was a very, very friendly dog, too, believe it or not," Gruenfelder said. "In spite of all of that."

Emma, who is black with a white chest, had scars on several parts of her body. Bayliss' other dog, Lexie, also 2 years old, was not beaten, police said.

Bayliss adopted Emma as a puppy two years ago, Gruenfelder said. Islip Town animal control officers took the dogs for veterinary care. Emma still is receiving treatment, while Lexie is at the Islip animal shelter, Gruenfelder said.

The Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals aided in the animal abuse investigation, and the Islip Town fire marshal is investigating the unsafe living conditions, police said.

Bayliss' bail was set at $5,000 and bond at $15,000 at his arraignment Wednesday in First District Court in Central Islip.

He remained at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead last night, the Suffolk sheriff's office said.

For more on this case, please visit pet-abuse.com.