LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man was arrested and faces charges related to animal cruelty after witnesses said he had kicked and dragged his dehydrated dog, police documents said.
On Thursday, dispatchers received a call regarding a man, later identified as Shaun Jones, 42, performing CPR on his dog, a one-year four-month-old pitbull mix named Halfbreed. It occurred near Nellis Boulevard and Boulder Highway in the southeast Las Vegas valley. When officers arrived, they found Jones and Halfbreed. The dog had died and was hot to the touch, police noted.
When the officer spoke to Jones, who was sitting in his vehicle, he told police he lived in his car, and while walking away from an apartment complex he had been asked to leave, Halfbreed had died, according to the police report. Jones expressed that he didn’t believe that the dog was dead and would repeatedly grab the Halfbreed’s skin between his fingers, lifting its head and dropping it onto the car’s center console to see if it was alive.
He refused to give the dog to Animal Control, saying he would only release it if its condition were the same for several days. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Animal Cruelty detectives were called to the scene, according to the report.
A worker at a nearby complex told officers that a maintenance employee had seen Halfbreed alive, albeit in distress and unattended on the building’s second floor around 10 a.m. The worker brought the dog to a unit with working air conditioning and provided it with water, noting that the animal could barely stand or drink, the report said. While there, the worker said Jones came into the area, saw the employee taking care of Halfbreed, grabbed the leash, and used it to drag the dog down the stairs. The report said he kicked and punched the dog several times in the process.
Four hours later, Jones and Halfbreed were back on the property, police documents said. The worker noted that the dog was in worse condition than before and that Jones would not allow the dog to cool off or get water. He was asked to leave the property.
Around 4 p.m. Jones came back. Shortly thereafter, the dog collapsed, the worker said. The worker told police Jones gave Halfbreed CPR and “stuck his hands down its throat.” Jones was told to put the animal in his car and take it to a veterinarian, but Jones said he didn’t have the money, according to police documents.
According to the report, Jones denied dragging Halfbreed with a leash or punching and kicking the dog, telling officers that he loved the dog and was the sole owner, responsible for feeding and caring for Halfbreed.
Jones faces a charge of willfully or maliciously torturing, maiming, or killing a pet to threaten, intimidate, or terrorize another person, a felony. The State has requested additional time to file a complaint, and Jones was released from Clark County Detention Center on Friday, told to “stay out of trouble.” He is due in court on Jan. 6 for a status check.
