Twin Cities woman sentenced to 90 days of work release for stabbing fiance's dog to death

MINNEAPOLIS -- A Twin Cities woman has been sentenced to 90 days of work release and four years of probation for stabbing her fiance's dog to death in 2021.

Barbara Crosby accepted a plea agreement for one count of mistreatment of animals in April. She was sentenced on Wednesday. 

Charging documents said a Labrador retriever had been stabbed and left leashed to a tree near a walking trail in Lakeville. A necropsy of the dog revealed that it died of multiple stab wounds, and it had been injected with a mix of opioid painkillers and anxiety medication.

Crosby was walking with the dog hours before its death, documents say. When she spoke to officers, they noted she had scratches on her hands consistent with scratches from a dog.

Multiple sources told investigators that it was well known that Crosby did not like the dog, the complaint says.