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Woman Arrested For Beating Dog With Shovel
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 7, 2010
Modified Mar 7, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 7, 2010
Modified Mar 7, 2010
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Awful: A Queens woman was caught on video beating an 11-month-old English bull dog with a snow shovel. The Daily News reports that Maria Aguilar, who allegedly crippled the dog with her months of abuse, was arrested and charged with animal cruelty and criminal possession of a weapon.
The ASPCA says the dog, Spike, had "a hip fracture, a broken leg, three broken teeth and injuries to his ears," plus he's "virtually blind in his right eye." The ASPCA went to Aguilar's home last month after calls about a dog crying: "One of the witnesses used a camera phone to tape the abuse, also capturing Spike's howls of pain. Aguilar is seen throwing Spike to the ground and then slamming him with a snow shovel." (The disturbing video is after the jump.)
Apparently Aguilar's husband had taken Spike to the vet 12 times in the last seven months. She initially denied abusing the dog, but then confessed after investigators showed her the video. ASPCA Assistant Director Joseph Pentangelo told the News, "Spike will likely suffer pain and lameness the rest of his life. It is a crime that someone would do this to a defenseless pet." Here's information from the ASPCA on how you can report animal cruelty in NYC, NJ and outside NYC.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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