GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County man who grabbed his puppy by its leash is facing animal cruelty charges thanks to a video captured by a neighbor.
It happened in Snellville and neighbors told Channel 2's Matt Johnson they've been concerned about the puppy for two weeks.
“It’s a puppy. It shouldn’t be treated like that. No animal should,” the neighbor said, asking not to be identified.
The neighbor suspected the dog was being mistreated but he never thought the abuse would be as horrific.
“I was just horrified for that. It's terrible,” the neighbor said.
Video shows a man grab his puppy by its leash and hang it by its collar for about 10 seconds before putting the dog back on the ground.
The neighbor shared the video with Gwinnett County authorities.
They arrested Ernest Earls, 55, last Thursday at his home on Rainbow Drive in Snellville.
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“I just felt bad for the puppy. It's no way to live. It lived inside a small cage. It looked like possibly even, you know, leashed to the wall,” the neighbor said.
Neighbors said Earls had the puppy for only two weeks and kept the dog tethered to the wall in the garage.
“You never really saw the animal. It's just a shame. It doesn’t deserve to live like that," the neighbor said.
Johnson went by Earls’ home twice this week but no one was home.
The neighbor who recorded the abuse said he installed cameras at his home after someone shot his cat with a pellet gun and the cat lost a leg.
He never found out who shot his cat.
Now he hopes his neighbor stays away from dogs after his arrest.
“Hopefully forever, he doesn’t deserve one,” the neighbor said.
Police haven't said anything about the condition of the puppy, but neighbors haven't seen the animal in Earls’ house since the arrest.
In animal cruelty cases, people arrested often are forced to surrender their dogs to animal control.
Cox Media Group
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