WRAL News on Tuesday learned a man was arrested last week in Harnett County after authorities said he intentionally killed his girlfriend’s dog.
According to court documents, deputies with the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office arrested 19-year-old Marco Antonio-Manuel De La Cruz and charged him with one count of cruelty to animals.
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The documents stated that De La Cruz had recently broken up with his girlfriend and was at the woman’s home on June 26 to pick up his possessions in Cameron, North Carolina.
While grabbing his possessions, court documents accused De La Cruz of picking up the girlfriend’s family’s dog, “Luna,” and shooting it four times in its rib cage.
The court documents said De La Cruz “maliciously killed the dog out of spite” because “he wanted revenge on the girlfriend’s family,” adding that the dog did not attack De La Cruz and that De La Cruz stated, “I’m tired of this s***,” before shooting the dog.
Court documents stated a witness let the dog out of the house so it could go to the bathroom, and it was during that time that De La Cruz shot the dog.
Documents said De La Cruz then carried the dog into the woods and “discarded” it in a ditch.
De La Cruz made his first court appearance on July 11, where he was given a court-appointed attorney. He's expected to appear again on Tuesday, July 29.
WRAL News reached out to both the dog’s owner and De La Cruz’s attorney and is waiting to hear back.