CHICAGO _ Joseph Sneed knew something was wrong with he entered his West Side home Wednesday night. A piece of luggage was out of place.
He cautiously ventured inside and saw his 12-year-old pit bull Carmela lying dead in the hallway, covered with stab wounds.
"I've had her since she was a baby," Sneed said.
Things turned stranger after police arrived and walked through the home.
"They asked me if anyone else stays here," Sneed said. "I said no."
Officers had found a man fast asleep in a bed on the second floor. They took him into custody and charges were pending.
"He was a big guy," Sneed said of the intruder as he stood outside his home, saddened and baffled by the break-in. "He was in shorts and loafers."
The man broke a second-floor window to enter the home in the 2300 block of West Maypole Avenue around 9:45 p.m., police said.
The burglar was confronted by the dog, police said, so he stabbed the pet.
Sneed said he has owned Carmela since she was a puppy. She slept in his bed most nights, he said. "It hurts."
