Labrador Survives Madman's Machete

April 10, 2001 Vidalia, Louisiana, USA

Some time Sunday night, Malcom the 12-year-old black Lab was walking along the side of the road (about 100 yards from his home) when nutcase Mortemer R. Cardwell unleashed a bulldog from his car.

His intent was to watch the bulldog fight Malcom and another unidentified dog, but when this didn't work, Cardwell himself rushed at the dogs with a machete.

Malcom received extensive wounds to the head, shoulder and back, before he was able to escape and return to his home.

Owner David Masters said that Malcom came staggering into the yard "looking real bad."

"You could see inside his skull, and his lip had been chopped completely off," Masters said. "I went through (the Vietnam War), but I think this is the worst thing I have ever seen. It was sickening."

After an hour and 40 minutes of surgery, a Natchez veterinarian was miraculously able to save Malcom's life.  The second dog was not found.

Cardwell, who lives at 206 Jefferson St., Vidalia, LA 71373 (click here for a map to his house), was charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal, probation violation and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Not that it matters at this point, but Louisiana is one of the few US states that does consider animal cruelty a felony.

Cardwell has had a lengthy history of arrests, including one for murder in Gretna, for which he was convicted, but later released from prison.

Malcom's owner stated, "That guy is lucky the law got to him before me."

As for Malcom?  He doesn't seem to bear a grudge at all.  Says Masters, "He loves the attention."

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