$22K Reward Offered In Animal Cruelty Incident That Occurred Monday In Southeast DC

Warning: The Ring camera video posted to the Nextdoor app shows acts of animal cruelty that may disturb some viewers.

WASHINGTON, DC — A disturbing Ring doorbell camera video posted to the Neighbors app on Monday shows a man slamming a leashed dog to the pavement and kicking it in the head after it fails to follow the man.

Humane Rescue Alliance patterned with a generous donor and posted a $2,500 reward for anyone who could provide information that leads to the identification, arrest and conviction of the man seen in the video, who was walking his dog near Pomeroy and Sheridan roads in Southeast D.C. around 6:30 a.m. on Monday.

Don Winslow, the bestselling author of "The Cartel" and "The Power of the Dog, pledged an additional $20,000, bringing the total reward to $22,500.

"Hey Dog lovers! I need your help," Winslow said, in a post to his official Twitter account on Tuesday. "I put up $20,000 of this reward to catch this evil bastard so he CANNOT hurt this dog or any animal ever again. This is something we can do together."

HRA enforcement officers are investigating the incident and are asking people to look at their security camera footage from 6-8 a.m. on Monday to see if there are any other videos of the man and his dog available. The call for security footage includes people living on Pomeroy Road, Sheridan Road, Elvans Road, Morris Road, Stanton Road, Maple View Place, Mount View Place, and Martin Luther King Jr. Place in Southeast. Anyone with additional video or information about this incident is asked to call HRA at 202-723-5730.

“As a humane community we can have zero tolerance for despicable violence toward animals, and we intend to fight cruelty wherever it exists," HRA president and CEO Lisa LaFontaine said, in a blog post. “Our officers rely on your tips to rescue vulnerable animals and stop the cycle of cruelty and violence. We ask anyone who has information about this case to please come forward as soon as possible, and hope this reward helps. We won’t rest until the suspect is apprehended and the dog is safely in our care.”