Florida: Badly beaten Yorkie found in Publix parking garage; she was rushed to a vet but died. Now police looking for a man in red Toyota seen on surveillance video.

FLORIDA -- A badly beaten Yorkshire Terrier that was barely breathing and was “occasionally crying out in pain,” was found discarded in a Miami Beach Publix parking garage last week by an employee, police say.

Detectives are now hoping surveillance video from the garage will help them identify a man, who may be responsible for dumping the dog, which later died from her injuries.

 

The dog, named Lily at the animal hospital, was found April 7 on the second floor of the Publix garage, 1920 West Ave.

A Publix employee spotted the tiny dog next to a concrete support column and a trash can between parking spaces. The employee told an off-duty officer, who was with a patrolman at the time.

That officer went to check on the dog and “could clearly see something was wrong” with the dog’s midsection, according to an incident report.

The detective then called Miami Beach police officer Mariana Garcia, who frequently handles animal abuse cases.

Garcia took the dog to Doral Centre Animal Hospital.

“When I received Lily she was motionless and lying on her left side,” Garcia wrote. “Lily’s midsection also appeared swollen and distorted. Lily’s eyes were also bloodshot red and she would occasionally moan in pain.”

Lily suffered at least seven broken ribs and had severe trauma to her neck area, Garcia wrote. Garcia said that veterinary staff believed the dog had been strangled at some point and did not show signs of being hit by a car.

Meanwhile, officers reviewed footage from security cameras and focused on a red Toyota Yaris that backed into a parking space shortly before the dog was found.

The man can be seen getting out of his car and walking on the passengers side. Police say he then reached in, got something and placed it on the floor.

The man’s actions could be seen on the footage, but the dog could not be seen. The man then walked into the elevator, went to the first floor, went straight to the men’s restroom and then headed back to the elevator to the second floor.

Police say he then walked to the passenger’s side of the car.

“It is strongly suspected that the subject may have been stomping on Lily’s body since he lingered in the spot where she was eventually found,” Garcia wrote.

Garcia said that no other vehicles or people were in the area during the time that the man entered the garage and the dog was found.

Two days after the dog was found, she died from her injuries.

“I was told by the veterinary staff that Lily’s injuries were just too severe,” Garcia wrote.

A necropsy is pending, but police are looking for help in identifying the man.

Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).

(Miami Herald - April 18, 2017)