A Brooklyn man was charged with animal cruelty Friday after his pet pit bull, Spud, was hurled to his death from a three-story building in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the ASPCA said.
Raymond Cottle, 34, who lives in the Saratoga Avenue building behind which Spud was found last month, was charged with the misdemeanor after a necropsy of the emaciated 2-year-old dog revealed previous signs of abuse -- two ribs that had been fractured.
A source familiar with the case said Cottle would have faced a felony charge had authorities been able to prove he threw the animal to his death.
"There were no witnesses," the source said.
ASPCA agents, responding to a call, found Spud dead on the morning of Oct. 14.
ASPCA Special Agent Joe Pentangelo said the dog had been hurled from the roof and massive trauma severed his spine.
"His mother had told him to get rid of the dog," Pentangelo said.
On Wednesday, Alan Decosta, 35, of Crown Heights, threw the family's pit bull out a window and to its death. Decosta had accused his mother of loving the dog, Gemini, 10, more than him.
Decosta is charged with animal cruelty. |
