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Background: Marco Zuluaga being arrested by Osceola County police (Osceola County Sheriff’s Office). Inset: Lilly (Osceola County Sheriff’s Office).
A Florida man was charged with animal cruelty after being caught on camera allegedly slamming a 1-year-old puppy onto a concrete floor.
Osceola County police arrested Marco Zuluaga, 28, on Dec. 27 after being alerted to an “animal complaint” at an apartment complex in Kissimmee, Florida. According to the arrest warrant, the apartment management turned over surveillance video from the day before that showed a man identified as Zuluaga carrying a small dog. A noise can be heard off-camera “consistent with someone slamming something against a hard surface.” Zuluaga then comes back into the frame with the dog and violently throws her “in a pitcher motion” down onto the concrete floor outside the apartment. The dog can be heard yelping in pain and then running away.
Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez held a press conference on Dec. 30 to announce the arrest and provide an update on the case. He stated that the reason Zuluaga attacked the dog was because she had an accident on the carpet inside. Lopez also stated that while off-camera, Zuluaga slammed the dog against the balcony railing and “contemplat[ed] throwing her from the third floor.”
Lopez explained that the force Zuluaga employed to hurl the dog to the ground was so violent that he hurt his own shoulder. It also resulted in the dog bouncing off the surface after making impact. He said, “The amount of force he uses is just disgusting and disturbing and unacceptable, and it’s a miracle that he didn’t kill this dog.”
The dog, an Australian shepherd puppy named Lilly, was brought to a veterinarian, who diagnosed her with a “dilated pupil in her left eye” and “deep tissue bruising on her underbelly.” She is expected to make a full recovery.
Zuluaga was booked into the Osceola County Jail and charged with felony animal cruelty. Lopez said that “if we could have charged him with anything else, trust me, we would have.” He posted $5,000 bond and was released on Dec. 28.
As part of his pretrial release agreement, Zuluaga was ordered not to have any contact with pets, and Lilly was taken into care by Animal Control. Lopez said this ensured that she will be “safe from harm, and she will never return to that monster.”
Lopez had more positive news for Lilly, announcing that she has already found a new permanent home.
