A Long Island City man was charged for allegedly hitting a small dog with a metal rod, leaving her blind in one eye, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.
Luis Jimenez, 26, was arraigned on Feb. 5 on charges of second-degree criminal mischief, overdriving, torturing and injuring animals, failure to provide sustenance and aggravated cruelty to animals. Jimenez is currently being held on $15,000 bail and is due to return to court on May 3.
If convicted, Jimenez faces up to seven years in prison.
“The defendant allegedly whacked a small, defenseless animal that approached the man when he and a former friend got into a physical altercation,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “The 2-year-old pup suffered severe injuries to her face and right eye. This kind of alleged brutality against an eight-pound dog is both senseless and heartless. The defendant will be held accountable for allegedly inflicting immeasurable pain on this poor animal.”
According to charges, after 9 p.m. on Dec. 20, 2018, Jimenez got into an argument with the brother of the dog’s owner. After the fight, the dog owner’s mother witnessed the eight-pound Chihuahua-type dog, named Gigi, walk toward Jimenez. Surveillance footage then allegedly showed Jimenez striking Gigi in the head with a metal rod, causing the 2-year-old dog to yelp out in apparent pain.
Charges say that detectives took Gigi to the ASPCA on Dec. 21, where a veterinarian completed a comprehensive examination on the dog. The exam found that Gigi had suffered severe damage to her right eye and a broken right cheekbone and that her injuries were consistent with having suffered blunt force trauma to the head.
As a result of Jimenez’s alleged actions, Gigi now lives with excruciating pain and is permanently blind in her right eye. The dog, according to District Attorney Brown, is still undergoing treatment at the ASPCA and may require surgery to remove the damaged eye.
