Officers Investigating Alleged Animal Cruelty

Ring Camera Footage Shows Man Punching Dog

COACHELLA – Animal Services officers are investigating an act of apparent animal cruelty that was captured on video by a doorbell surveillance camera, according to a news release.

Footage of the incident shows a man attempting to retrieve a dog near a driveway of a home in the city of Coachella on Los Cabos Avenue. A Ring camera caught the man’s action just before 5 p.m. on Sept. 21.

It’s unknown if the man who was scurrying after the dog owns it. Out of view of the camera, the man catches up with the light-colored dog. After that, he is seen dragging the dog, presumably from a collar around the dog’s neck. He drags it across a concrete driveway and, once he reaches the sidewalk, he stops briefly and appears to kick the dog and then punches the dog at least twice.

Homeowner Tatiana Martinez provided the footage to Riverside County Animal Services. At first, she said she believed that the footage was going to be lighthearted in nature. Just another pet owner trying to catch their loose dog, she reasoned. Then the dragging part gave her pause.

“When he starts to punch, you can hear the blows as he is landing them,” Martinez said, according to the release. “There is a slight delay in the footage and the sound. But you can hear the punches. Those were hard blows. He’s going hard on this poor pup. It was horrific.”

Martinez and her family are huge animal lovers and, coincidentally, adopted a husky from Riverside County’s Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms in May. The family named the 2-year-old dog “Remy,” after a character in the Disney film “Ratatouille.”

Lt. Luis Rosa of Animal Services said they have already interviewed Martinez and chased down one lead, but that proved to be fruitless. Lt. Rosa said the department desperately need the public’s help to find this man and the dog to make sure it did not suffer serious injuries.

Animal Services is working with the Sheriff’s Department to receive tips from the public. Please visit the crime tips form link here.

“This clearly appears to be a case of inhumane treatment of a pet,” Animal Services Director Julie Bank said. “We hope the public comes forward to providing us helpful information.”