Two dogs were removed from a property in Cabazon Thursday following a social media video that circulated online of an individual repeatedly striking and throwing a canine.
Riverside County Animal Control officers, with assistance from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, confiscated the dogs, which were placed on a 14-day hold pending an investigation.
The suspect, identified as Craig D’Allessandro, was seen in the video allegedly punching a dog and throwing it to the ground, KESQ reported.
D’Allessandro admitted to the station Thursday that he had struck and thrown the dog — named Brody — but he called his behavior an aberration.
“What happened was it was probably irrational, but not out of any kind of hate for my dogs,” he told the station. “That was the first and the only time I’ve ever put a hand on my dogs.”
He said the day prior to the incident, the dog had escaped from his property and killed a neighbor’s animal, and the video showed him disciplining the dog.
“That dog wasn’t hurt physically. My hand was. But that dog’s pride was hurt,” he told KESQ.
He added, “I acted irrationally that one time. And I may regret it, but I don’t apologize for it, and I will not.”
No arrests were immediately made, and the investigation was ongoing, authorities said.
Anyone with additional information was asked to contact the Department of Animal Services at 951-358-7387.
Mr. D’Allessandro’s words Iook very narcissistic, and very much the same as what I heard from k9 handIers (apart from their Joking and Iaughing about it) in the P.D. where I was empIoyed for 18 years.
“That dog’s pride was hurt,” as if the dog was Iike himseIf in that regard, and his
remark about being unapologetic.
It’s rather surreal, in an eviI way, since it is standard protocoI in miIitary and paramiIitary k9 units to hang, drag, kick, punch, swing around and sIam to the ground, etc., their assigned dogs. In fact, they kiII more than any suspects do.
Imagine poIice and sheriffs investigating civiIians for the same things which are done in their own k9 units. They’ve been Iaughing up their sleeves for a Iong time about this, beIieving they are “above the Iaw” and invincible. However, after decades of attempting to be a whistIebIower, and bIocked consistentIy, I am finaIIy seeing the tide turning. May aII of it come into the Iight of truth very soon.