Queens woman arrested for brutal beating of bulldog with shovel, officals say

BY Lisa L. Colangelo
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, March 7th 2010, 4:00 AM

A heartless Queens woman was arrested for crippling her 11-month-old English bulldog after witnesses caught her on video beating the pooch with a shovel, officials said.

Maria Aguilar, 36, was arrested by the ASPCA and charged with animal cruelty.

The young bulldog, named Spike, had been abused repeatedly over the past few months.

During his short life, Spike has sustained a hip fracture, a broken leg, three broken teeth and injuries to his ears, according to ASPCA Assistant Director Joseph Pentangelo.

The pup, which is being treated at the ASPCA hospital, is also virtually blind in his right eye.

"If this witness had not reported this cruelty to the ASPCA, Spike may well have continued to suffer abuse at the hands of his owner," said Pentangelo.

ASPCA investigators were called to Aguilar's house on Feb. 24 after witnesses reported hearing 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.

Aguilar originally denied beating the pup, but she allowed ASPCA officials to take the dog to their hospital.

They discovered her husband had taken the dog to veterinarians 12 times in the past seven months for treatment.

After an investigation, Special Agent Debbie Ryan returned on Friday and arrested Aguilar for aggravated animal cruelty and criminal possession of a weapon.

After being confronted with the video, she admitted to the crime. "Spike will likely suffer pain and lameness the rest of his life," said Pentangelo. "It is a crime that someone would do this to a defenseless pet."



From: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/03/07/2010-03-07_queens_woman_busted_in_shovel_attack_on_pup.html