In Indianapolis, the owner of a dog who was videoed beating his pet 11 times with a closed fist and kicking her in the legs, has been arrested and faces animal cruelty charges.
According to Indy Humane, Robert Cole, 23, surrendered to police on Monday and will be charged with a Level 6 Felony of “torturing or mutilating a vertebrate animal.” The dog named Maggie is recovering and is in a temporary foster home receiving lots of love, care and attention.
In late June… Investigators received video of the incident which shows a person, reported to be Cole, pick up a dog, Maggie, several times and slam Maggie to the ground. He then stomped on Maggie’s legs causing her to cry out as if in pain.
Complaints were filed on June 21 against Cole after a neighbor reported seeing him “beat his dog in the face like it was a man” and break the dog’s legs. Cole was alleged to have picked the dog up above his head by her throat and then slammed her to the ground.
Maggie tried to crawl away from Cole and cowered under a chair. The defenseless dog cried out in pain as Cole is alleged to have beat and stomped on her, but he wasn’t done yet. From there, the brutality continued as Cole dragged the injured dog out from under the chair and again dropped her on the ground.
Later on Cole was seen carrying the dog whose legs had been bandaged.
Prior to evidence of the abuse being known to investigators, Cole had surrendered Maggie to Indy Humane reporting the dog was hit by the car. The injuries were consistent with being hit by a car. Indy Humane, who had no knowledge of the abuse, repaired the dog’s broken leg and adopted the dog back to Cole.
Maggie is doing well as she continues her recovery. Her leg is healing and everyone says she is a sweet pup. Anyone interested in adopting Maggie or any of their many other animals can visit the Indy Humane Society’s website at https://indyhumane.org/adopt/adoptable-dogs/.
Case Number – IP230064560
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