VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A Volusia County man is now behind bars after witnesses say he beat a dog in broad daylight with a chain. The dog suffered several injuries but will recover.
Julio Rivera, 31, is facing several charges, including child abuse, felony cruelty towards animals, three battery charges, and one for resisting an officer.
Raymon Prush was one of the first people to see Rivera hit the dog with a metal chain.
“What I witnessed yesterday was ridiculous,” Prush said.
Prush is an avid animal lover. He was in his car when he saw Rivera walking on the side of the road with his pet.
“The dog just turned its head to smell the tire, and he yanked the dog and hit the dog in the face with the chain,” Prush said.
Prush then pulled up to the gas station nearby to confront Rivera for allegedly beating his dog with a metal chain. The two yelled at each other and things escalated.
“That’s when he started wailing [whipping] the dog numerous times,” Prush said. “Whipping him until the chain broke. Once that happened, the dog got behind me.”
Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the suspect punched Prush in the face. He also hurt several other witnesses.
“A 13-year-old then steps in,” Chitwood said. “He swings and tries to hit the 13-year-old. And then another couple manages to get the dog away from him and get the dog inside their vehicle. He then attacks that couple as well.”
In a video clip, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office shared with us, you see Prush grab Rivera and put him in a “hold” to get him from taking the animal out of the car.
In the report, another witness said: “This man should never own an animal or be around them.”
WESH asked Prush how the dog looked after all this.
“She was running scared,” he said. “But she — I don’t know how many times she received these beatings. It was like she wasn’t defending yourself against this. She was just receiving.”
Chitwood said Rivera has previous domestic violence and battery charges.
“This guy’s got a problem with his anger,” he said. “And, you know, I’m very, very proud of the residents of Deltona that saw what was happening. I mean, as young as 13 knew, we got to do something here where this dog could end up dead.”
As of Friday, Rivera is being held at the Volusia County Jail on a $51,000 bond.
Via WESH