Lily the Australian shepherd expected to recover, be adopted to a safe home
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office has arrested man visiting the area from Coral Springs who is shown on video spiking a small dog to the ground outside a local apartment.
Marco Zuluaga, 28, of Coral Springs, was arrested and charged with a felony count of animal cruelty.
“If we could have charged him with more we would have,” Sheriff Marcos Lopez said.
According to the Sheriff, deputies responded to an animal abuse complaint Thursday morning around 10:41 a.m. Video taken about two hours prior to their arrival from a neighboring apartment showed the suspected carrying a small dog that was wearing a Christmas sweater, out of the door of an apartment. He comes back into view and slams the dog down on the concrete walkway. The Australian shepherd named Lily managed to run away, and Lopez said the pup was taken to a veterinarian and diagnosed with a dilated pupil and deep tissue bruising on her underbelly, but she’s expected to make a full recovery.
Lopez said the footage was from the third floor, and that the suspect contemplated throwing the dog over the third-floor railing.
“The amount of force he uses is disgusting, disturbing and unacceptable, and it’s a miracle he didn’t kill that dog. Even animals shouldn’t be treated like this. It’s a pet. He’s got a bad temper. This kind of thing will not be tolerated in Osceola County.”
When Zuluaga was asked why he did this, Lopez said he responded that the dog “pooped and peed on the rug.”
The silver lining is that Lily is already lined up for adoption to a safe home, Lopez said.
Court records show Zuluaga was released Friday on a $5,000 bond. A condition of his pre-trial release is that he is to have no pets in his possession.
