Redwood City man Sentenced for Torturing, Killing Puppy

A Redwood City man who pleaded no contest to killing his puppy Lucky after torturing it for weeks in front of his 4-year-old daughter was sentenced to two years in county jail this morning, prosecutors said.

Alan Velete, 32, pleaded no contest in July to felony animal cruelty and misdemeanor child endangerment, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. His abuse of the dog started last December, when he moved into his girlfriend’s mother’s Redwood City apartment with his girlfriend and their young daughter, prosecutors said.

He became enraged when the 4-month-old terrier defecated on the floor, setting off weeks of abuse, including punching and kicking the puppy, spraying it in eyes with household cleaners and keeping it in a crate in the bathroom.

Prosecutors also said that he would put the dog in a duffel bag and hang the bag in the shower, listening to it whimper for hours. He also taped its mouth shut and force-fed it his psychiatric drugs. Prosecutors said Velete’s girlfriend and her mother were afraid to call police but her mother finally did after Velete suffocated the dog on Jan. 6, put it in a duffel bag and threw it in the garbage.

His girlfriend’s mother made an anonymous call to police and Velete was arrested. He initially pleaded no contest to the charges, but changed his plea in July in a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for no more than three years in prison.

In addition to the two-year jail sentence, Velete must complete a year-long residential treatment program.

--Bay City News