Sep 16, 2008 6:27 pm US/Eastern
Man Arrested After Punching Puppy
WALKERSVILLE, Md. (WJZ) ―
Frederick County authorities have arrested a man who they say punched a pit bull puppy, fracturing its skull and blinding the animal.
Mike Hellgren reports Troy D. Goines of Frederick has been charged with felony and misdemeanor animal cruelty. He is being held on $20,000 bail. He was arrested last week.
Eight-week-old Tequila suffered massive injuries: skull fractures, blindness, seizures. Animal control investigators filed charges against Troy Goines, who they claim punched the puppy head-on.
The mother of Tequila's owner, still stunned by the attack, asked that we not show her face.
"What kind of man is he? What kind of man would hit a dog? Big as he is, he's going to hit a little puppy. That right there, I'm telling you, you don't know how bad it got to me," she said.
She can't bear to part with Tequila's toys or the bed where she slept.
"It's cruel," she said. "If he could do that to a dog, just imagine if he did that to somebody's child."
Harold Domer heads Frederick County Animal Control and says cases like these are rare.
"It is one of the most disturbing because of the reason of someone intentionally doing this," he said. "The injuries were so severe that the dog would not recover from what happened."
But a close relative of Goines tells WJZ her loved one is not to blame. She also wanted her face concealed.
"He had no problem with animals. I have pit bulls and he has no violent reaction to no animal," she said.
She claims another man holding the puppy during the fight inadvertently caused the injuries.
"When he hit the guy, the guy fell down on the dog," she said.
Tequila did get emergency care, but vets couldn't save her. The dog's owner agreed to have it euthanized after its condition deteriorated.
Trial is set for Nov. 6 in District Court.
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