SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Southwest Miami-Dade teen is facing an animal cruelty charge after, police said, he shot his neighbor’s small dog at least nine times with a high-powered pellet rifle.
Video footage shot by the dog’s owner shows the animal in his crate, shifting back and forth and writhing in pain, Feb. 19.
Moments earlier, the owner’s surveillance camera captured his pet hobbling away in the backyard of the residence, located off Southwest 115th Avenue. Seconds later, shots were heard ringing out.
The dog had to be put down.
“It’s horrific,” said David Kubiliun, the dog owner’s attorney. “I’m just hoping that law enforcement takes a good look at this young man’s propensity for violence because something needs to be looked at here. This is just not normal, normal behavior.”
Police went to the suspect’s home on Friday with a search warrant. The arrest report said officers found the pellet rifle and actual pellets.
Police then arrested the teen, identified as 18-year-old Edangel Rives.
Speaking with 7News through a translator, his grandmother said the teen is calm and did not do this.
Neighbors said they are stunned.
“It’s terrible. I mean, I’m an animal lover,” said area resident Robert Vaughn.
“Devastated, disappointed, sad. What can I say?” said area resident Bertha Martinez. “You love your animal as you love your kids.”
“It was very, very heartbreaking,” said Kubiliun. “It was a poor, little innocent dog that was adopted by my client seven years ago, and a complete senseless action.”
Rives has since been released from jail.
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