A man who was caught on cellphone video allegedly choking and punching a dog in South Beach appeared before a judge, Monday morning.
According to witnesses who saw the horrific animal abuse unfold Sunday, 51-year-old Louis Sepulveda planned to kill the dog because it attacked him earlier. The dog has since been taken to animal services for safety.
“When I read the arrest report, it was pretty shocking,” said Judge Gisela Cardonne Ely.
Cellphone video caught Sepulveda apparently abusing a black Labrador, dragging it along the sidewalk in South Beach.
Several bystanders yelled at him and tried to make him stop as he was seen punching and choking the dog multiple times.
Derrick Childrey, one of the good Samaritans who came to the dog’s defense, said he and some other bystanders took action by pinning Sepulveda to the ground until beach cops arrived and eventually arrested him.
“I was angry to see something like that,” Childrey, who was visiting from Alabama at the time of the incident, said. “I tackled the guy. I grabbed the dog and tackled the guy to the ground, and myself and some other patriots, we subdued him until the police got there. He needs to pay for what he’s done. I don’t think he should own an animal ever again in life.”
“Sir, while you’re in Miami, if you bond out you are to have no contact whatsoever with any animals. Is that clear?” Cardonne Ely told Sepulveda.
Sepulveda has been charged with animal cruelty and is being held on a $7,500 bond.
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