A 28-year-old Westminster man was charged this week with a felony count of cruelty to an animal after he was allegedly seen on video slamming a German Shepherd mix to the ground by the leash and then kicking her in the face while she lay motionless, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Alexander Cueva also faces a special allegation of personal use of a deadly and dangerous weapon – a leash – during the attack, which was captured on a surveillance video and posted to social media.
If convicted as charged, Cueva could face up to four years in state prison, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.
The dog, a 6- to 8-month-old named Inara, was rescued and placed in the care of Long Beach Animal Care Services, which posted on Facebook Wednesday that she was “energetic, bright and responsive.
“She sustained some injuries consistent with suspected trauma, but is expected to heal with time and care,” the organization said in the update.
Cueva was expected to appear in Long Beach Superior Court on Friday, where he may enter a plea to the charge.
The attack occurred in the 200 block of East 12th Street, near Long Beach Boulevard, just past 5:30 a.m. on Monday, April 21, when a surveillance camera captured a man, believed to be Cueva, pick up the dog with a leash by the neck over the back of his shoulder, then flip the dog over his shoulder and slam it to the ground.
The man then kicks the dog before picking the dog up by the leash again and going off-camera on a skateboard.
The video was shared on Instagram by the Kris Kelly Foundation, a rescue organization, leading to more than 2,500 comments – many expressing being shocked by the video. It prompted the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to offer a $5,000 reward leading to an arrest and conviction of the person responsible.
Cueva was arrested by police Tuesday night in the 800 block of Pine Avenue and Inara, a tan dog with floppy ears, was taken to Long Beach Animal Care Services.
While the DA’s office identified Cueva as a Westminster resident, Long Beach police said following his arrest that he lived in Long Beach.
Whether any tips from the public helped police to identify the suspect was not disclosed.
The animal cruelty case was the second filed this week by the DA’s office, which also filed the same charge against Donald Jeffes, who allegedly beat his American Micro Bully with a metal chain leash in a downtown Los Angeles apartment building last month.
It’s also the third such arrest on suspicion of cruelty to animals this month. In Santa Ana, 45-year-old Alejandro Oliveros Acosta was arrested this week on suspicion of luring cats and harming them over a period of multiple weeks.
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