A man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to a stabbing.

Keith Ball pleaded guilty to Aggravated Battery and Torturing or Mutilating a Vertebrate Animal, landing him a total of 10 years in prison, two years in St. Joseph County Corrections and two years of probation.

Police were called to Douglas Road in May of last year where they found a 50-year-old victim with cuts, stab wounds and internal injuries, as well as a dog with cuts and stab wounds.

Witnesses claimed Ball ran from the home and fled in a vehicle.

The victim said the dog saved his life by biting Ball enough to stop him from killing him. Both the victim and the dog survived their injuries.