CALIFORNIA -- A Cherryland man is facing a criminal misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty following a video posted on Instagram that purportedly showed him beating a 10-month-old puppy with a leather belt.
Terrell Keith Daniels, 54, is due in Alameda County Superior Court next week to be arraigned on one count of animal cruelty stemming from the suspected abuse that took place sometime on or before Sept. 11, a criminal complaint shows.
Prosecutors charged Daniels on Sept. 27 after a video surfaced showing him striking a shih tzu-poodle mix puppy nearly a dozen times with a leather belt, according to court records.
Alameda County animal control officers learned about the incident after receiving several tips on Sept. 18 from witnesses who saw the video posted on Instagram, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Alameda County sheriff's Deputy Eric Williams.
The video, reportedly filmed by Daniels' 17-year-old son, shows Daniels walking into a room with a small dog in his left hand, according to the affidavit.
The video shows Daniels putting the dog on the floor, holding it down and apparently whipping it 11 times with a leather belt, the court document states.
"After the eighth strike, the dog is heard yelping in pain until the last strike when Daniels finishes hitting it," Williams wrote.
After viewing the video, deputies traced the recording to Daniels' home in the 19600 block of Camden Avenue in the Cherryland area of unincorporated Hayward, said Sheriff's Office spokesman J.D. Nelson. Inside the home, deputies found the puppy shown in the video and another dog.
The dogs did not show any outward signs of neglect, Nelson said, but were removed from the home and taken to the East County Animal Shelter in Dublin for the duration of the investigation.
When confronted about the video, Daniels told deputies he was disciplining the dog for going to the bathroom, according to the affidavit.
He said he "deliberately avoided striking the dog by hitting the floor instead as it was being belted," Williams wrote. "He did admit some of the strikes may have hit the dog accidentally."
Daniels was set to appear at the Hayward Hall of Justice early next week on the charge.
Under the law, he faces up to one year in jail if convicted of the misdemeanor charge.
(San Jose Mercury News - Oct 2, 2013)
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