A British woman stabbed her estranged husband after he revealed he had euthanised two of her pet rescue dogs. Claire Bridger, 64, stabbed her husband of nearly 40 years, Keith Bridger, in the chest and abdomen during a visit to his home in July last year.
The couple adopted one of the dachshunds in 2020, shortly before the COVID-19 lockdown and another approximately a year later. However, the stabbing took place a year after the couple separated, and the dogs remained with Keith, according to a report in the Mirror.
During a court hearing earlier this month, Claire, a registered school nurse, testified that she struggled to cope with the separation in the months leading up to the attack. She was prescribed medication for her condition, but got pushed over the edge after the dogs were put down.
She confronted Keith, who had just returned home from a motorcycle ride. Despite asking him repeatedly, Claire received no answer, which spiked her anxiety.
"You know where the dogs are. The vets wrote to you," Keith told Claire, who was immediately stricken by grief after realising what happened to her dogs.
'Just Saw Red'
Claire said he next memory was a neighbour dragging her off her husband. When the police arrived, Claire said she "just saw red".
"I thought it was nonsense. I thought that they would never put the dogs down, no matter what. There was no need, I thought it was a demand to make me come home," Claire told the court.
Keith said he did not inform his wife that the pups were euthanised, but believed she already knew after unsuccessful attempts to rehome them.
Following a five-day trial, the jury unanimously found the mother of two not guilty of attempted murder but convicted her of wounding with intent. She is scheduled to be sentenced on March 20.
