Police arrest man caught on video kicking small dog in NE Miami-Dade
MIAMI - Miami-Dade police have announced the arrest of a man, formerly employed as a dog groomer, caught on video kicking a small dog in Northeast Miami-Dade.
Police said Richel Yumar Gonzalez, 33, is now facing a charge of animal cruelty.
Gonzalez was caught on video kicking a small dog named Coco, leading to public outrage.
His admission to kicking the dog on August 12 to his boss led to his immediate termination and subsequent arrest.
The owner of the pet grooming service says he is "truly sorry" after his former employee was seen on video kicking a small dog — an incident he says has led to backlash, including death threats.
"What he did ... was brutal," said Yosuany Rodriguez, the owner of Deluxe Mobile Grooming, the company displayed on the shirt of a man seen kicking a small Maltese-Shih Tzu mix.
The attack, caught on Ring video, triggered irate reactions on social media.
"I do not approve what he did," Rodriguez said. "I want him to be held accountable with justice and hopefully, he gets the justice that he deserves."
Rodriguez said he found out about the incident on Saturday morning, five days after the attack on the dog, when he saw two negative reviews online. A few minutes later he also received pictures taken from the surveillance video that went viral and recognized his employee.
"When I sent him that, I asked him, 'Is this what I think it is? Did you kick the dog?' And he said, 'yes.'"
Rodriguez said he fired the man "immediately."