But the 20-year-old's face flashes sadness and frustration as she talks about Perry, a puppy apparently killed in February by a gunshot wound and found in a trash bin. An animal control officer has been accused of shooting the dog, rather than taking it to the pound.
“If he did it to my puppy, what other animals did he do that to?” Guerrero said. “What other families did he crush? People get really attached to their dogs.”
Juan Enrique Hernandez, 40, is free on $2,000 bond after being arraigned Wednesday, charged with animal cruelty. He was arrested last week after being indicted on March 31.
“Why he went out and did this is beyond me,” Galena Park Police Chief Robert Pruett said. “We'll let the jury decide, but I'd say it's a clear-cut case. It's pretty cut and dried.”
Nicknamed Perry after the family started calling him Perrito — Spanish for puppy — the 2-month-old German shepherd mix was killed Feb. 16, investigators said.
Guerrero said her mother woke her up on Feb. 16 to look for the dog, who stayed in the fenced backyard.
After speaking to neighbors, Guerrero said she learned an animal control officer had taken the puppy. She went to the shelter, where she said Hernandez denied taking the dog.
Guerrero called the police, who spoke to the neighbors and Hernandez.
Later that day, Hernandez told a supervisor where the dog's body could be found, said Assistant Harris County District Attorney Belinda Smith.
Instead of answering why he may have shot the dog, Hernandez told investigators that he put the body in the trash bin on that day because it was scheduled to be emptied soon, Smith said. He told police he did not want the carcass to stay in the bin for another week.
State District Judge Mike Anderson ruled Wednesday that Hernandez have no contact with any animals. Hernandez said, through his attorney, that he did not have any pets.
Pruett said animals taken to city pounds stayed for three days before being euthanized by a licensed veterinarian. Pruett changed the policy to keep animals for five days after Guerrero filed her complaint.
Hernandez also was moved from his duties as a dog catcher to an administrative post in the city's public works department, Pruett said.
He said the city has hired a different animal control officer.
After Pruett and other city leaders learned what happened, they reimbursed Guerrero for a new puppy, which cost almost $300.
“As soon as I informed the mayor that Juan was under criminal investigation, the mayor said, ‘That ain't right. This lady needs to be reimbursed for her dog,'” Pruett said of Galena Park Mayor Bobby Barrett. “The mayor is very upset.”
Barrett, a part-time mayor for the small city in east Harris County, did not return calls for comment.
Hernandez's attorneys, Bernardo Aldape and Enrique Gomez, said they are still investigating the allegations.
If convicted, he faces a maximum of two years for the state jail felony.
(Chronicle - April 7, 2010)
