Texas: Juston Lee Bruno Accused of Feeding Elderly Neighbor’s Poodle to His Pit Bulls

TEXAS -- A Beaumont man took a neighbor's toy poodle and gave it to his two pit bull dogs, which
then attacked and killed it, police said.

Juston Lee Bruno, 30, was charged with cruelty to nonlivestock animals, a state jail felony, Officer
Crystal Holmes with the Beaumont Police Department said Wednesday. Bruno was released from
the Jefferson County Jail on $25,000 bond.

The incident on Sunday was the second violent animal cruelty case in a week, police said.

In the first incident, three abandoned dogs were found with chemical burns. All three have been
euthanized, Holmes said.

In the Sunday attack, a witness told police that a man took the black toy poodle out of a box and tossed it to two pit bulls. The man watched as the pit bulls attacked, she added.

When officers arrived, they saw one of the pit bulls chewing on the mangled and dead poodle, Holmes said.

Ida Scott was given Bullett six years ago as a gift from her daughter-in-law.

“I loved my little baby,” said the 74-year-old Beaumont woman from her home, where Bullet's toys were scattered about the house.

She said friends and family had grown to love the 8-pound, 8-ounce, curly haired dog who met visitors at the door and was known as “Uncle Bullett” or “Brother.”

Her husband was particularly fond of the dog, she said. Andrew J. Scott requires regular dialysis treatments and is in and out of the hospital, she said.

“Bullett was just about what keeps him alive,” Scott's sister, Virginia Hardin, said. “He sleeps at the foot of my brother-in-law's bed. When he was in the hospital, he would talk to (Bullett) over the phone.

“No matter what he goes through, when Bullett's here, he manages to smile,” Hardin said.

The pit bulls were seized by animal control, Holmes said. A hearing is planned for later this week to decide whether the dogs should be destroyed.

(Chronicle - Sept 2, 2009)