Police say a puppy that was meant to be a Christmas gift was brutally beaten at the hands of a man helping Albuquerque parents with the surprise. Now that man has been arrested for extreme animal cruelty.
“Suffered about four hits to the head. Swept the dog hard enough to hit the door,” says Lt. Thomas Romero with Animal Welfare.
Dallas was supposed to be the ultimate Christmas gift, but investigators say an Albuquerque family trusted the wrong person, Gabriel Salaz, to help keep the puppy a secret until December 25.
“He did suffer some soft tissue damage, internal. Also had some head trauma as well as bloodshot eyes,” says Lt. Romero.
Police say just before Christmas, the 30-year-old left his apartment near San Mateo and Osuna to get more beer. When he got back there was feces and urine everywhere, Salaz later told an Animal Welfare officer.
“The person was upset and let his anger get the best of him and took it out on the first thing that was there. That was the dog, unfortunately,” says Lt. Romero.
A police report says a good Samaritan saw it all happen and stepped in, taking Dallas to the Route 66 Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Center. The care center contacted Animal Welfare.
“The witness did see the person abusing the animal, yes,” says Lt. Romero.
Text messages between Salaz and the dog’s owner, his friend of 25 years, show Salaz owning up to the abuse. When asked how many times Dallas was hit in the head, Salaz responded with, ‘maybe four times total.’
He continued to say he didn’t wake up that morning thinking he wanted to kill a puppy and apologized repeatedly.
“They were very upset situation. They know this person very closely and they were just upset this person would do such a thing to their animal,” says Lt. Romero.
KRQE News 13 reached out to the owners of Dallas, but they didn’t want to comment. The dog is back in their care and is expected to make a full recovery.
It took officials more than a month to complete this investigation. Salaz was picked up on a warrant this week. Saturday in court, a judge released him on his own recognizance.